How to Be a Dragon
by RadiantFire
Summary: Hiccup is the most hated Viking in the village. The reason? She was born with dragon features and abilities. The dragon's know about her powers and are trying to take her away for an unknown reason. Somehow, Hiccup has to find out what the dragons want her for, and stop them before they succeed.
1. What Do the Dragons Want

Hiccup opened her eyes, staring at the roof above, listening to the herd of bleating sheep outside. But something was off about the bleating. It seemed as if the sheep were panicked.

 _Oh no!_

Hiccup leapt out of her bed and ran down the stairs. She heaved the front door open with all her might. When the door was open enough, Hiccup peeked outside. A few houses were on fire and smoke was thick in the air. Giant reptiles were flying above the village of Berk, plucking sheep off the ground and taking them away.

Many of the dragon's seemed to be searching for something of great value.

One of the beasts spotted Hiccup, and both make brief eye contact. Hiccup could hear the beast, speaking with venom in its voice, **"There you are!"**

Without hesitation, Hiccup slammed the door shut. She could feel the heat bursting through the cracks of the door as the front of her house was engulfed in flames.

"Dragons." Hiccup breathed.

Over the cackling of the fire, Hiccup barely heard the dragon yelling, " **We'll get you if it takes all day!** "

You were probably wondering why Hiccup could understand dragons. The reason? She kind of was a dragon. When she was born, her father, Stoick the Vast (and chief of the tribe) discovered that she had dragon features. On her back were two curved, black lines, where black wings would sprout at will. Her ears were dark and pointed like an elf. Her fingers had claws that could sprout from her fingertips like her wings from her back. If she wasn't careful, her hands could create a flame and burn a whole house to the ground.

The Hooligan tribe wasn't very fond of dragons. Because of this, Hiccup was forbidden to use her dragon abilities. However, there were a few times when she'd lose control of her powers. This resulted in the dragons knowing about her powers.

Since then, the dragons have been trying to take her away for an unknown reason. Some said they wanted a mate, which never failed to make Hiccup struggle to keep her meals down. Others said that they needed her to aid them in the raids. Another theory was that the dragons thought she was a captive in the village. No one knew why the dragons were so hellbent on taking her away, but they did everything they could to make sure it didn't happen.

Hiccup held her breath as she opened the door and sprinted through the village. As she ran, she could hear her fellow Berkians exclaiming, "What are you doing, Hiccup?" "Get back inside!" "You're not supposed to be out here!" "Get inside!" and so on.

"Hiccup!" yelled an angry, male voice. Before she could react, Hiccup was suddenly grabbed at the back of her fur coat and lifted off the ground by her father. Stoick pointed at the girl, "What is she doing out again? What are you doing out? Get inside!"

With that, Stoick shoved Hiccup away. The Viking nearly lost her footing as she stumbled toward the blacksmith shop.

Stoick turned to one of the men, "What do we have on our hands?"

"Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Nadders, and Hork saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

The man ducked under his shield as an explosion destroyed a nearby house. A piece of burning wood landed on Stoick's shoulder. "Any Night Furies?" questioned Stoick as he brushed the wood off. The man shook his head, "None so far."

"Good." said Stoick.

Hiccup ran into the blacksmith shop past the blacksmith named Gobber.

When Gobber saw Hiccup, he chuckled. "Nice of you to join the party! I thought you've been carried off."

"What-who? Me?" asked Hiccup, "Aw no. I'm wa-a-y too humanly for their taste." She lifted a spiked hammer off a desk and hung it on the weapon stand. "They wouldn't know what to do with me."

"But you're still somehow considered a dragon in their eyes." added Gobber, "Who knows, they just might find you-"

"No! Don't finish that!" Hiccup pleaded as she felt her supper climbing up her throat. She quickly swallowed it as she ran to the window.

She grabbed the swords that were placed there and set them on the forge to begin repairing them.

Meanwhile Stoick was giving commands outside.

"We move to the lower defenses." he stated, "We'll take 'em down with the catapults."

He lead a few Vikings to a tower that held one of the catapults, dodging lava-like flames that rained down out of a burning house above them.

Hiccup heard other teenagers outside. She ran to the window and saw a group of four boys and a girl. Their names were Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Astro, and Tuffnut's twin sister, Ruffnut.

The teenagers grabbed buckets and filled them with water from the water barrels. The twins fought over a bucket. Fighting was the one thing they were known for. The other teenagers were actually doing the work. After Astro put out some fire, an explosion proved their effort to be a waste. But they still ran back to the barrels to get more water.

Hiccup stared at Astrid longingly. She had a crush on Astrid. Hiccup snapped out of her fantasy state as the teenagers ran past.

Snotlout saw Hiccup and smiled deviously. Snotlout really enjoyed ruining Hiccup's day, so he couldn't resist adding a comment as he ran past. "Hey, Dragon! Try not to burn the building to the ground this time!"

Hiccup growled as she tried to climb out the window and attack the Jorgensen boy. Before she could, a hook caught the back of her tunic and pulled her back in. "Oh no you don't!" exclaimed Gobber. Hiccup glared at Snotlout as he laughed at her misfortune.

"Come on!" complained Hiccup, "Let me out. Please! I need to make my mark!"

"Oh you've made plenty of marks!" replied Gobber as he dropped Hiccup. He nudged her with his hook as he continued, "All in the wrong places."

"Please!" said Hiccup desperately, "Two minutes! I'll kill a dragon! My life will get infinitely better! I might even prove that I'm not a menace."

Gobber numbered his reasons of refusing, "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" He held up a rope with weights on it. A man grabbed it from his hand and threw it in the air, catching a Gronckle."

"Okay, fine!" said Hiccup. She gestured to a small catapult, "But this will throw it for me." She placed her hand on it, causing it to launch the weighed rope inside to fly out the window and hit a Viking in the face.

"You see?" questioned Gobber, "Now this right here is what I'm talking about!"

"Mild calibration issue-" stammered Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" exclaimed Gobber, obviously frustrated, "If you're ever going to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all… this."

"But you just pointed through all of me."

"Yes. That's it! Stop being all of you!"

Hiccup groaned.

Gobber groaned in a mocking tone.

"Look," said Hiccup, "all I want is to prove that I can help without needing a babysitter watching over my shoulder every second of the day. How can I become a skilled Viking without having proper training? I swear there will be consequences for this!"

"I'll take my chances." Gobber grabbed a sword and dropped it in Hiccup's arms, "Sword. Sharpened. Now!"

Hiccup walked over to the rotating stone. She began to sharpen the sword as she promised herself, _One, day I'll get out there._

Killing a dragon was everything on Berk. Hiccup was sure a Deadly Nadder would at least get her noticed. A Gronckle would surely prove she could protect herself. A Hideous Zippleback would bring her twice the status. Maybe she could kill a Monstrous Nightmare. That would prove that she was one of the best Vikings. Then there was one more option. The ultimate prize that no one had ever seen and lived to describe. They called in the-

"Night Fury!" screamed a Viking.

Hiccup heard a high-pitched screeching noise, followed by an explosion. She ran to the window and watched as another explosion of blueish-violet fire demolished a catapult tower.

Hiccup barely saw a blurred outline of the mysterious dragon. The Night Fury was never known to miss its target. Hiccup was determined to be the first Viking to kill a Night Fury.

"Mind the forge Hiccup!" ordered Gobber, "They need me out there!"

Gobber replaced his hook with a hammer and headed for the exit. Just before he left, he gestured to Hiccup, "Stay. Put. There."

Hiccup stared at Gobber with annoyance, "I'm not a dog, Gobber."

Gobber added on, "You know what I mean." And with a loud yell, he limped outside to help.

But right after he left, Hiccup grabbed the handles of her catapult and ran outside. She ignored the angry Vikings ordering her to return to the blacksmith shop and ran to the edge of a small cliff.

She quickly prepared her catapult and searched the sky for a target.

Nothing was visible.

 _C'mon,_ she pleaded, _gimme something to shoot at._

She waited a few moments more. Nothing.

Hiccup used her dragon vision. Suddenly, she could see the stars flickering, as if something were moving in front of them. The figure had no colour.

 _The Night Fury!_

Hiccup took aim. She waited for the dragon to come closer.

The dragon blasted another tower and flew between it and Hiccup, giving her a nearly-clear view of its outline. Hiccup launched the weighed rope from the catapult. The momentum knocked her right off her feet and sent her landing on her back.

She heard the screech of an injured dragon. She looked up and watched the black beast falling to Raven Point.

"I hit it!" she breathed. Then she exclaimed with joy, "Yes! I hit it!" She turned to the village behind her and practically asked no one, "Did anybody see that?"

Her moment of triumph was interrupted by a crunching sound. She felt heat as she heard a serpent-like voice, " **Finally.** "

Hiccup turned around to see a Monstrous Nightmare, moving toward her like predator to its prey, " **We've been looking for you for quite a while.** "

"Except for you…" said Hiccup.

Hiccup saw a Viking in the corner of her eye. Without thinking, her dragon instincts kicked in. She shot an orb of fire from her hands and blasted the axe out of the Vikings hands before he could throw it. "Hiccup!" yelled the Viking.

Hiccup realized what happened. She had helped the wrong side. "Sorry!"

The Monstrous Night chuckled, " **Don't you see? You're not a human. You're a dragon.** "

Stoick threw a net over a group of Nadders. He pinned one down by the head. He was about to tie its mouth shut when he heard the sound of a girl screaming. He turned to the noise and saw Hiccup. She had her wings spread out and was clumsily gliding through the air, fleeing from a Monstrous Nightmare.

He groaned as he chased after them. He pointed to the Nadders and commanded, "Do not let them escape!"

Hiccup landed on the ground and ran on all-fours. She ducked behind a post that held a large torch. She surrounded her body with her wings to protect herself from the fire that hit the post.

" **My master wants to see you.** " hissed the same serpent voice.

Hiccup tried to run away, but the dragon had her surround with its tail. " **I'm not going!** " yelled Hiccup in the dragon tongue. But the Nightmare wouldn't take no for an answer, " **What my master says goes. You're coming with us if I have to carry you in my mouth.** "

The dragon reached at Hiccup with a ginormous paw.

Hiccup braced herself to fight. But was pulled backwards and thrown onto the ground.

She looked up and saw Stoick fighting the Monstrous Nightmare. After a few moments of punching a kicking, the dragon flew away. Stoick turned to Hiccup with rage in his eyes. The post toppled over from lack of foundation and landed between the two. The large basin of burning coals rolled down the hill. Causing Vikings to jump out of the way and allowing the Nadders to escape.

"Sorry, dad." was all Hiccup could say.

Hiccup could hear the dragons calling to her. Urging her to follow.

She looked around. Everyone was staring at her.

She had once again caused the dragons to successfully raid Berk.

"Okay," said Hiccup, "but I hit a Night Fury."

Stoick grabbed Hiccup by the shoulder and pulled her through the streets as she stammered her excuses.

"It's not like the last few times, dad. I really, actually hit it. You guys were busy. I had a very clear shot. It went down. Just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there before it-"

"Stop!" yelled Stoick.

Hiccup flinched.

"Just. Stop." sighed Stoick, "Every time you step outside, disaster follows. You even used your powers again!"

Hiccup quickly folded her wings into her back, as if it would change the fact that everyone had seen them.

"Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

Hiccup sighed, "Well between you and me, I think the village could do with a little less feeding. Don't you think?"

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup. Why can't you follow the simplest orders? Why can't you focus on helping Vikings and not dragons? Hork told me what you did with his axe."

"I just can't stop myself!" said Hiccup, "I see a dragon's life at risk and my dragon half just has to…. Help it! It's who I am dad."

"You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon is not one of them. Get back to the house." Stoick looked to Gobber, "Make sure she gets there."

Gobber nudged Hiccup forward. Hiccup heard Stoick add on, "I have this mess to clean up."

As Gobber walked her through the village, she walked past the teenagers. Snotlout laughed and commented, "Quite the performance, Dragon, I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped."

With a growl, Hiccup tapped Snotlout's arm with her hand, burning it slightly. As she walked past, she growled, " **One of these days I'm gonna kill you.** "

"Ow!" exclaimed Snotlout. Gobber wasn't impressed that Hiccup used her powers, but he didn't say anything. He secretly disliked it when Snotlout insulted Hiccup. Gobber pushed Snotlout out of the way.

Hiccup imagined the hate she thought was in Astro's eyes. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"I really did hit one." said Hiccup as she walked up to the front door of her house. "Yeah. Sure." replied Gobber.

Hiccup continued, "He never listens to me."

"Yeah. Runs in the family."

"And when he does it's always with this disappointment scowl like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich."

Hiccup deepened her voice in order to sound more like Stoick, "Excuse my, barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms! Extra guts and glory on the side! This here! This is a female monster!"

"You're thinking about this all wrong!" said Gobber, "It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand."

Hiccup gestured to her back, "Thank you for summing that up."

"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not."

Hiccup shook her head, "Said the people who won't let me be who I am."

She closed the door behind her.

Gobber shook his head as he walked to the Great Hall, not knowing that Hiccup had run out the back door into the forest to look for the Night Fury.


	2. I'm Not a Dragon

Stoick had many of the bravest and strongest Viking warriors gathered around the central hearth of the Great Hall. He was discussing his plan to seek out the dragons' nest and drive them away.

"Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them. If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home!" Stoick picked up a knife and stabbed it through the body of a dragon that was drawn onto the map of the Barbaric Archipelago, "They won't seek out the life of our heir any more. Nor will they ever raid us again! One more search. Before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never come back!" a Viking protested.

"We're Vikings!" reminded Stoick, "It's an occupational hazard. Now, who's with me?"

No one spoke.

"Very well," said Stoick, "Those who stay will look after Hiccup." Just as Stoick was finishing his sentence, every Viking in the room raised their hands."

"That's more like it." nodded Stoick.

"Right," said Gobber, "I'll go pack my things."

"No, Gobber," said Stoick, "I need you to stay here and train our recruits."

"Right." replied Gobber in a sarcastic tone, "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor-sharp blades, lots of time to herself. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Ugh," groaned Stoick, "What am I gonna do with her, Gobber?"

"Put her in training."

"No. I'm serious."

"So am I."

"She'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage. Or worse..."

"You don't know that."

"I do, actually."

"No you don't."

"I do."

"No, you don't!"

"Listen." sighed Stoick, "You know what she's like, Gobber. From the time she could crawl, she's been... different. She doesn't listen, she has the attention span of a sparrow, she keeps using her powers, I take her fishing and she goes hunting for trolls!"

"Trolls exist!" exclaimed Gobber, "They steal your socks. But only the left ones... huh. What's with that?"

"When I was a boy,"

"Oh. Here we go."

"my father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?"

"You got a headache."

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a kid, I knew what I was, what I had to become. Hiccup is not that kid."

"You can't stop her, Stoick." explained Gobber, "You can only prepare her. I know it seems hopeless, but you won't always be around to protect her. She's going to get out there again. She's probably out there now."

Stoick thought about what Gobber had said. He was right.

Hiccup observed the map of the island that she had drawn in her sketchbook. Most of the island was dotted with x-marks that revealed where she had searched. She looked up at an area she had not yet searched.

Nothing but brush and trees.

Hiccup sighed in frustration, marking the area. She was so frustrated that she violently scribbled on the entire map.

She groaned and put the sketchbook back into the pocket in her fur coat.

"Oh the gods hate me."

She kicked a few rocks along the dirt as she walked miserably through the forest.

"Some people lose a knife or a mug. Not me! I just manage to lose an entire dragon along with half the village's sheep!"

The was a branch in front of Hiccup. She slapped the branch out of her way. But the branch got the last laugh as it slapped her back.

"Ow!" screamed Hiccup.

Hiccup looked at the tree, about to set it on fire. But she realized that the tree looked broken-at the trunk. There was no way an axe could make a tree trunk split in two.

Half of the trunk was bent down, reaching along a deep, round trench. All grass was missing and only dirt and rocks remained.

Hiccup followed the trench to a small clearing, where a giant, black dragon was lying. Hiccup hid herself in the trench, in case the dragon was awake.

She pulled out a small knife. Her only form of defender that she was allowed to use.

She ran from the trench to a boulder. She peered around the boulder, slowly leaving her hiding place.

The dragon remained still.

 _Why isn't it moving?_ Hiccup wondered to herself. Was the dragon dead? It wasn't moving. It didn't look like it was breathing. Its eyes were closed.

"I….. I did it." she said at last. "Ohhhhh yes. Thi-this fixes everything!"

Hiccup out one foot on the dragon's shoulder in a heroic style, "I have brought down this mighty be-"

Hiccup felt the dragon's shoulder move a little. The Viking girl jumped backwards in surprise. She pointed her knife at the black dragon. She spread her wings to fly away in case the dragon attacked.

She edged forward, towards the head. She saw that the dragon's eyes were wide open. The dragon stared at her. She had no idea what to do.

" **What are you waiting for?** " asked the dragon, " **Make the move. Kill me. It'll save me the death that awaits me back home.** "

Hiccup panted. _He's messing with your head._ she thought, _He's making you pity him so he can kill you when you cut him lose._

With heavy breaths, Hiccup did her best to sound intimidating, "I'm gonna kill you dragon. Then I'll….. I'll cut out your heart and give it to my father." She closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm not a dragon.". She raised her voice and yelled, "I'm a Viking!"

" **Then stop hesitating.** " said the dragon, " **Just kill me.** "

Hiccup nodded and held her breath. She raised her knife above her head. She looked into the dragon's eyes to observe its fear. And she saw a lot of fear in the dragon's eyes.

Hiccup shook off any pity that entered her mind and raised the knife higher. She tried to force the knife into the dragon's flesh. But her arms resisted. She tried harder. But her arms wouldn't cooperate with her mind. Part of her held her back.

She was a dragon. Just like the one in front of her. She couldn't bring herself to kill her own kind.

She gave up. She rested her hands on her head. She looked at the Night Fury, then the knife in her hand.

Hiccup sighed, "I can't."

The dragon didn't answer.

Hiccup turned to walk home.

She stopped and looked back at the Night Fury. She couldn't just leave it here. It would be killed.

She shook her head at her own stupidity, _My dad would kill me. I can't believe I'm about to do this._

She knelt down next to the dragon, and began to cut the ropes. She had cut the third line when the Night Fury suddenly pounced on her, pinning her against the boulder.

Hiccup didn't even bother to fight back because she knew it was pointless. The dragon was bigger and stronger than her. It was also the deadliest dragon known to man.

The Dragon's paw pressed against Hiccup's chest with such force that Hiccup could barely breathe.

She forced herself to look at the dragon's eyes. There was nothing but fury and triumph in them.

" **I knew you couldn't do it.** " the dragon smiled wickedly, " **You don't have what it takes.** "

" **So you're just gonna kill me?** " questioned Hiccup, trying to sound bold but failing badly, " **After I let you live? I helped you dragons at times.** "

" **Those were accidents. You hate your dragon side.** "

" **Because it's the reason I'm hated by everyone!** "

" **You can't be on both sides, human,** "

Hiccup was surprised at the dragon's statement. He was the first to refer to her as "human".

The dragon continued, " **You should've picked a side long ago.** "

Hiccup closed her eyes. The dragon was about to kill her.

" **Actually,** " figured the Night Fury, " **you could be useful…. If you really want to help. I want you to tell this 'great leader' that I have a message for him.** "

Hiccup looked at the dragon.

" **Tell your chief,** " he said, " **that if he wants the raids to stop, he'd better give my master what he wants: for you to be where you belong.** "

The dragon drew back his head and roared at the Viking girl before he leapt into the sky and flew away.

Hiccup breathed long sighs of relief and watched the dragon. It almost looked like he was having troubles flying.

 _Okay,_ she thought, barely able to hear her own thoughts over the loud ringing noise, _that could've been worse….. _ She stood up and began to walk home. But she was so shocked by the event that she fainted after a few steps.

Hiccup walked into her home. Her father was standing in front of the hearth. _He's gonna kill me._

Hiccup speed-walked to the stairs.

"Hiccup."

Hiccup flinched. "Dad! Uh… I have to.. talk to you dad."

Stoick turned to face Hiccup, "I need to speak with you too."

Stoick stated, "I think it's time you learned to fight dragons." But at the same time, Hiccup said, "I've decided I don't want to fight dragons." Both father and daughter asked in unison, "What?"

"You go first." suggested Stoick.

"Uh, no no." said Hiccup, "Uh…. You go first."

"Alright." began Stoick, "You got your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

"Oh man." stammered Hiccup, "I should've gone first. Because we have a lot of dragon-killing Vikings…. But we don't have a lot of bread-making Vikings. Or small home-repair Vikings."

Stoick threw an axe into Hiccup's arms, "You'll need this."

Hiccup grunted with effort as she held the axe, "But I don't wanna fight dragons."

"Oh come on," chuckled Stoick, "yes you do."

"Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you will kill dragons."

"No I'm very, extra sure that I won't."

"It's time, Hiccup-"

"Can you not hear me?"

"This is serious, Hiccup."

Stoick was confused. He knew that Hiccup wanted more than anything to prove she wasn't dragon. But why wouldn't she take the chance that she was being offered?

"When you carry this axe," explained Stoick, "you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, and you think like us. No more of… this."

"But you just gestured to all of me."

"Deal?"

"This conversation seems very one-sided."

"Deal?"

Hiccup sighed. It was obvious that she wasn't winning this argument. "Deal."

"Good." said Stoick, picking of a basket and putting on his helmet, "Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here….." said Hiccup nervously, "maybe?"

Stoick closed the door behind him as he left.


	3. Dragon Training

Gobber lifted the arena gate and turned to face the teens, "Welcome to Dragon Training."

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Astro entered the arena in expectation.

Tuffnut was the first to speak after they observed the arena, "I hope I get some serious burns!"

"I'm hoping for some mauling." said Ruffnut, "Like on the shoulder or lower back."

"Yeah," commented Astro, "it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

"Yeah. No kidding. Right?" added a sarcastic, female voice. Everyone turned to the entrance. It was Hiccup. "Pain. Love it!"

"Aw! Great!" groaned Tuffnut, "Who let her in?"

"Let's get started!" boomed the enthusiastic voice of Gobber, "The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

Snotlout looked at Hiccup, "Hiccup's part dragon…. Does that mean the winner's gonna remove that problem?"

The twins burst with laughter.

 _If I had the chance,_ thought Hiccup, _I'd gladly remove mine._

"Don't worry about it, Hiccup," said Gobber in a comforting tone, "you're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead. They'll even resist killing since you're one of them."

Gobber shoved Hiccup, making her join the line of teenagers.

He walked along the dragon cells as he began to explain, "These dragons are some of the many species you will learn to fight:"

As Gobber spoke, Fishlegs listed some facts about each dragon. After Fishlegs listed some facts about the Terrible Terror, Gobber turned to Fishlegs and yelled, "Will you stop that?"

"And," Gobber continued as he reached for the lever that locked the gates for the cell that held the last dragon, "the Gronckle."

Fishlegs whispered into Hiccup's ear, "Jaw strength, eight."

"Wait!" said Snotlout, "Hold on! Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

Gobber smiled. "I believe in learning on the job." With that, he pulled the lever.

The lock was raised and the Gronckle burst through the cell doors.

Six Viking teenagers spread out in all directions.

Gobber began to explain, "Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?" asked Hiccup who didn't really think twice about her answer.

"Plus five speed?" asked Fishlegs.

"A shield!" shouted Astro.

"A shield!" repeated Gobber, "Go!"

The teenagers ran to a pile of shields and scrambled to get one.

Gobber continued, "The most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must choose between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut picked up the same shield and began fighting over it. Both yelled at each other.

Tuffnut, "Get your hands off my shield!"

Ruffnut, "There's like a million shields!"

Tuffnut, "Take that one! It has a flower on it! Girls like flowers!"

Ruffnut heaved the shield out of Tuff's hands and hit his head with it, "Oops! Now this one has blood on-"

A blast of fire obliterated the shield and sent the twins falling onto their backs.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut!" called Gobber, "You're out!"

"What?" asked the twins in unison.

"Those shields are good for another thing: noise! Make lots of it! It'll blow off a dragon's aim!"

The remaining teens slammed their weapons against the shields as hard as they could.

Gobber continued teaching. "Each dragon has a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronckle have?"

"Five?" asked Snotlout.

"No! Six!" said Fishlegs with confidence.

"Correct! Six!" nodded Gobber, "That's one for each of you!"

The Gronckle shot the shield out of Fishleg's hands.

"Fishlegs! Out!"

Fishlegs screamed as he ran for cover.

Hiccup crawled out from behind a wooden barrier that was leaning against the wall. The Gronckle shot at Hiccup but missed. Hiccup frantically crawled back into her hiding place.

Snotlout ran up to Astro. He had a habit of trying to become Astro's friend to increase his popularity, since Astro was very skilled in combat.

"So," Snotlout began. "I moved into my parents' basement. Maybe you could come by sometime to work out. You look like you work-"

Astro jumped away as another blast barely hit Snotlout's shield and broke it.

"Snotlout!" called Gobber, "You're done!"

"Oh!" exclaimed Hiccup, now out of her hiding place and standing next to Astro, "I guess it's just you and me now. Right?"

"Nope!" answered Astro, "Just you!"

Astro ran away. Hiccup saw the Gronckle just as it shot at her. She blocked the shot. Nearly losing her shield. The blast only singed it.

The shield was knocked out of Hiccup's hand. Gobber announced, "One shot left!" as Hiccup desperately ran after her shield. She knew she'd most likely be called out if the shield broke. But she had a feeling that she'd be dead if she didn't get to the shield in time.

She looked over her shoulder and saw that the dragon was right behind her.

She stopped before she collided with the stone wall.

She turned around in time to watch the Gronckle stop in front of her. It stared right into Hiccup's eyes.

" **I'll teach you humans to hurt a dragon!** " growled the Gronckle.

The dragon opened its mouth to shoot at Hiccup's head.

Hiccup closed her eyes and braced herself.

Gobber hooked the dragon's jaw and pulled it away just as it shot its fire.

Hiccup covered her head to protect it.

She looked up and saw Gobber pulling the dragon to its cell.

"And that's six. Go back to bed ya overgrown sausage!"

Gobber threw the dragon into the cage and locked it.

"You'll get another chance! Don't you worry. But remember, a dragon will always," Gobber leaned closer to Hiccup, "always, go for the kill."

He pulled Hiccup to her feet.

As he walked away, Snotlout walked up to Hiccup. He pushed her to the ground and pressed one foot on her back, holding her down, "You have got to be the wimpiest dragon I've ever seen. You wouldn't even hurt a fly."

The twins laughed.

Snotlout gently kicked the back of Hiccup's head and walked away.

Hiccup remained still until she was the only one in the arena.

When everyone was gone, Hiccup stood up and looked at the scorched wall.

"So why didn't you?" Hiccup asked no one as she examined the ropes that held the Night Fury. She had walked back to the clearing to find some answers.

She dropped the ropes and walked in the same direction that the black dragon had flown the day before.

She walked until she came to the edge of a cove. It looked as if nothing was there.

"Well this is stupid." she said to herself.

She noticed some black scales on the ground. As she kneeled down to examine them, a black blur jumped up next to her.

Hiccup fell backward. She watched a black dragon struggle to climb the cliff and fail. The dragon glided back to the ground.

 _Why is the Night Fury still here?_ Hiccup wondered to herself.

She jumped to a lower platform to get a better view of the Night Fury.

The Night Fury obviously wanted to fly away. But he never flew higher than twenty feet.

Hiccup pulled out her sketchbook and drew the Night Fury. As she finished at the tail, she indirectly asked the Night Fury, "Why don't you just…. fly away?"

She looked closer to the tail. And corrected one mistake of the sketch by rubbing off the left tail fan.

 _Because you can't._ Hiccup answered.

She looked back to the dragon. The Night Fury tried once more to get off the ground, but failed again.

The dragon spotted fish in the pond. He tried to catch the fish. But the fish were too quick.

Hiccup felt pity for the dragon. It was bad enough that he couldn't fly. It was worse that he couldn't even catch his food.

 _He must be starving…._ Hiccup began to think. She quickly realized that she was dropping her pencil. She tried to catch it but it fell into the cove below.

The Night Fury saw the pen and looked up at Hiccup.

" _That stupid girl._ " he mumbled to himself.

He looked at the Viking girl a few seconds more, " _But I gotta give it to her. She's definitely not a coward_."


	4. Learning About Dragons

Hiccup entered the Great Hall, where Gobber and the teenagers were discussing the lesson.

"Where did Astro go wrong?" questioned Gobber.

"I mistimed my summersault dive." explained Astro, "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah," nodded Ruffnut, "we noticed."

"No." protested Snotlout, "You were great. That was so Astro."

"Astro's right." said Gobber, "You have to be tough on yourselves."

Hiccup reached for a plate of chicken that was on a spot next to Snotlout. Snotlout shifted into the spot, making it obvious that Hiccup wasn't welcome at the table.

"That's fine, Snotlout," said Hiccup, "I wouldn't sit next to you even if you fixed that repelling smell." Snotlout heard the twins snickering. He glared at Hiccup as he shifted back into his spot when Hiccup walked past them to the neighbouring table.

Gobber gestured to Hiccup and asked, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

"Uh, she showed up?" said Ruffnut.

"She didn't get eaten." added Tuffnut.

Astro shook his head, "She's never where she should be."

 _Gee,_ thought Hiccup, _I don't know why I wanna drop dead for some reason._

"Thank you, Astro." nodded Gobber, "We need to live and breathe this stuff." He pulled out a book and dropped it on the table, calling it, "The Dragon Manuel. Everything we know about every dragon we know of."

Thunder was heard outside.

"No attacks tonight." explained Gobber, "Study up."

"Wait!" said Tuffnut, who stopped balancing his knife on the tip of its blade, "You mean read?"

"While we're still alive?" added Ruffnut.

Snotlout slammed his fist on his plate, causing the crumbs of his supper to fly across the table, "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?"

"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Fishlegs, "I've read it, like, seven times! There's this water dragon, that sprays boiling water at your face! And-and there's this other one, that buries itself-"

"Yes!" interrupted Tuffnut, making a hand gesture for "shut up" at Fishlegs, "That sounds great! There was a chance I was gonna read that."

"But, now…." added Ruffnut.

Snotlout stood up, "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff."

Tuffnut shoved his sister's face into her food as he scrambled to follow Snotlout. Ruffnut chased after him. Fishlegs followed to show off his knowledge.

Hiccup shyly walked up to Astro, "So…. I guess…. We'll share?"

"Read it!" said Astro, quickly leaving as Hiccup came closer.

"Oh!" said Hiccup, "All mine then. Ok… so I guess I'll see you uh…."

Astro slammed the doors as he left.

Hiccup finished her sentence, "tomorrow."

Hiccup sat at the table. She waited until everyone else had gone to their homes before she opened the book.

She read the book aloud, "'Dragon Classifications: Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class.'"

She turned the page and saw a sketch of a dragon with a broad body and a large mouth.

"'Thunderdrum: This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled the Thinderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on site.'"

She turned the page and saw a long, slender-bodied dragon with wings that made it look somewhat like a moth.

"'Timberjack: This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on site.

"'Scaldrun: Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous-'"

Hiccup yelped in surprise as a loud thunderclap was heard outside.

She gathered herself together, and kept reading.

"'Changewing: Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on site.

"'Gronckle, Zippleback, the Skrill, Boneknapper, Whispering Death.'"

Hiccup's imagination began playing tricks on her as the sketches on the paper seemed to be coming to life.

Hiccup's voice began to tremble as she continued reading.

"'Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on site. Kill on site. Kill on site….'"

As Hiccup reached the last page, she noticed that it was nearly blank. All she noticed was the name and a few sentences.

"'Night Fury: Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you.'"

Hiccup pulled out her sketchbook and set it on the book. She began to ponder everything that happened with her encounter with the Night Fury.

The only thing that really confused her was the fact that, she was the only one who had seen the dragon, and was still alive. The Night Fury could've killed her. He had her pinned to the ground. He had every right to end the risk of being found and killed. But he let her live.

 _Why did you?_ she kept asking, _Why risk being discovered just to let me live? Why am I so important to you dragons? What do you want from me?_

Hiccup sighed and buried her head in her arms. _Why did I have to be born like this? What did I do to deserve this curse?_

Stoick examined his map as his small armada sailed along the fog that outlined Hellheim's Gate.

"I can almost smell them. We're close."

Stoick stared at the fog for a few moments before commanding, "Take us in."

The three ships entered the fog.

For a few moments, there was silence. Then, there was a loud roar, followed by fire and screaming.

The fleet was being attacked by dragons.

" **Where is she?** " the dragons asked repeatedly. But the Vikings couldn't understand them. Only Hiccup could.

After realizing that Hiccup was nowhere to be found, the dragons began burning the ship.


	5. Building Trust

"Hey!" called Hiccup, standing near the wall of the training arena. They were in the middle of lesson two, and the arena was set up like a maze. "So I couldn't help but notice that the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there like another book? Or a sequel? Or maybe… a little Night Fury pamphlet-"

A sudden blast melted the axe head off of Hiccup's axe handle.

"Focus, Hiccup!" yelled Gobber, "you're not even trying!"

Hiccup saw a Deadly Nadder as it leapt down from the top of the maze wall and charged her.

As the Viking girl sprinted for her life, Gobber briefly explained, "Today is all about _attack_!

"Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be _quicker_ and _lighter_."

Fishlegs looked up at the Nadder. The dragon launched poisonous spines from its tail, and Fishlegs barely blocked them with his shield. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!"

"Look for its blind spot," instructed Gobber, "every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it and strike!"

The Nadder stopped in front of the Thorston twins. The twins seemed to be in the dragon's blind spot because the dragon moved as if trying to see them.

"Ugh," groaned Ruffnut in disgust, "do you ever bathe?"

"Don't like it just get your own blind spot!" suggested Tuffnut."

Ruffnut pressed her face against his, "How about I give you one?"

Both snapped their focus back to the dragon, that had spotted them while they were distracted. Both ran away just before the dragon shot its fire at them.

"Blind spot, yes!" said Gobber, "Deaf spot, not so much." He chuckled at his clever joke.

Hiccup stopped to asked Gobber, "So how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now get in there!"

"I know-I know!" repeated Hiccup, "But hypothetically-"

"Hiccup!" whispered Astro, "Get down!"

Astro peered around a corner, making sure the Nadder was distracted. Once sure it was, he summersault-dived across the corridor. Snotlout followed in a similar fashion. Hiccup ran after them, but tripped.

"Ow-" she exclaimed.

The Deadly Nadder saw her, and charged at her growling something along the lines of, " **I got you now!** " Hiccup heard the dragon's voice and determined that the dragon was female.

The dragon tried to catch Hiccup with her mouth, but missed by inches.

Hiccup took the chance to run away.

The Nadder climbed over a wall, and landed on the floor in front of Astro. Snotlout took the chance to impress him and shoved him out of the way saying, "Don't worry, bro, I got this!" Snotlout threw the axe but missed the Nadder by three feet.

"The sun was in my eyes!" said Snotlout.

The Nadder tried to blast them with her fire, but they ran away.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Snotlout, "Block out the sun? I can do that! But I just don't have the time right now!"

Astro violently pushed Hiccup out of the way as he sharply turned to his left. The Nadder crashed into the maze wall, causing it to tip over and knock down the ones behind it.

As the dragon chased after the boy, quickly demolished the training site. Within a matter of seconds, the entire arena was full of piles of knocked over walls.

Astro ran up a wall as it fell over and leapt off the edge, landing on Hiccup.

The twins saw Astro on top of Hiccup and teased him saying, "Ooh! Love on the battle field!"

"He can do better!"

"L-let me-why don't you-" stammered Hiccup. Astro pushed himself back onto his feet. He saw the Nadder running towards him. He grabbed his axe that was stuck in Hiccup's shield. It wouldn't budge. Instead it was hurting Hiccup's arm.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Hiccup screamed.

With one great heave, Astro violent used his foot to hold Hiccup down and pulled the shield off Hiccup's arm.

Astro drew the axe and shield back and slammed them hard against the Nadder's head.

Hiccup heard the dragon screeching in pain as she trotted back to her cage.

"Well done, Astro!" exclaimed Gobber.

Astro glared at Hiccup. "Is this some kind of a joke to you, Hiccup? You can't help both sides. You'd better figure out which side you're on!" He pointed his axe threateningly at Hiccup's neck. He turned and walked away.

 _That's just it._ thought Hiccup, _I don't know which side I'm on.._

Hiccup went home, grabbed a fish and a shield and went to the cove.

She stopped at the small entrance to the cove, and threw the fish out in the open. She waited.

Nothing.

Hiccup peered around a boulder.

Nothing.

She tried to walk into the cove, but the entrance was so narrow that her shield got stuck at the rim.

Hiccup crawled under the shield and tried to pull it out. But it was no use. The shield was stuck fast.

Hiccup gave up and grabbed the fish, cautiously walking through the cove, looking for the Night Fury.

Still, nothing.

Where was this dragon? Did it climb out?

" **I just don't understand you,** " hissed a voice. Hiccup turned and saw the Night Fury jumping down from the top of a boulder. The dragon continued, " **you just keep coming back. Do you even know what I am?** "

" **Night Fury.** " answered Hiccup, " **The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.**

 **The only dragon no one's ever described.** "

" **Smart kid.** " commented the dragon, " **Yet still dumb enough to keep putting your life at risk. Again, and again, and again. If I wanted to, I'd have killed you when you found me in the woods.** "

" **Yet…….. you didn't.** "

" **No….. I didn't.** "

" **…….Why?** "

" **You're a dragon.** "

" **Half dragon."**

" **Doesn't change a thing. You're still a dragon. And when one dragon prevents the death of another, that dragon owes the other dragon his life.** "

" **So…. Since you let me live…. I kind of owe you now?** "

" **Some may say that.** "

" **Then... here.** " Hiccup held out the fish.

The Night Fury hesitated, then edged toward Hiccup, but stepped back and growled, " **Get rid of it."**

Hiccup panted. " **Get rid of what?** "

" **The knife.** " explained the dragon, " **I know you have it. Get rid of it.** "

Hiccup slowly reached for her knife.

" **And remember,** " added the dragon, " **try anything, and I'll kill you.** "

Hiccup pulled the knife out of her belt, held it out an arm's-length and dropped it.

" **Farther.** " instructed the dragon.

Hiccup lifted the knife off the ground with

Her foot and kicked it into the pond.

" **Huh,** " said the dragon, " **guess you're not so dumb after all**."

Hiccup forced herself to keep silent, and held the fish out again.

The dragon came closer, and opened its mouth. Hiccup looked into the mouth and saw….. no teeth.

"Toothless." she figured, "I could've sworn you had-"

The dragon sprouted teeth right out of his gums and snatched the fish right out of Hiccup's hands.

Hiccup jumped backwards in surprise.

The dragon age the fish quickly.

"-teeth." finished Hiccup.

The dragon looked at Hiccup and walked toward her, " **Where's yours?** "

" **What?** " questioned Hiccup as she stumbled backwards.

" **The other fish?** " said the dragon, " **Where is it?** "

Hiccup lost her footing and fell over. She crawled backwards until she hit a large rock. The dragon kept coming closer until his head was six inches away from hers.

" **I-I….** " stammered Hiccup, " **I don't have anymore.** "

The dragon stopped. Then forcefully pulled the fish out of his throat, out of his mouth and dropped the remains of the fish right onto Hiccup's lap.

" **Ugh….** " groaned Hiccup.

" **What?** " asked the dragon, getting into a sitting position, " **That's how we dragons share our food.** "

" **Huh?** "

" **When there's not enough food, we vomit the leftovers for the others who haven't eaten.** "

" **I ate an hour ago.** "

" **Look, if you keep coming to me, you obviously chose to join our side. And in order to do that, you need to do what dragons do. And this is how dragon's eat. So eat.** "

Hiccup looked at the fish, then the dragon, hoping that he would say he was joking. But he wasn't.

Hiccup sighed.

She took a bite out of the fish. " **Mmmm..** " she said, trying to sound like she was enjoying the fish.

" **You like it?** " asked the dragon.

" **Mmmhmm**."

" **Good. Then you won't mind swallowing it.** "

Hiccup hesitated. But she forced herself to swallow the fish, nearly vomiting in the process. She shuddered when her mouth was empty.

" **You hate it. Don't you?** " asked the Night Fury.

" **Honestly? Yes.** " Hiccup smiled.

The dragon looked at Hiccup. Then slowly he impersonated Hiccup's smile, showing his gums.

Hiccup reached out her hand for the dragon to let him sniff it. But the dragon growled and glided clumsily to the other side of the pond.

He burned a large circle in the ground to heat it up and laid his body onto it.

 _That kid is crazy._ the dragon thought, _She grew up being half dragon and yet she doesn't know the first thing about being one._

" **Is that how you go to sleep?** " asked Hiccup, who was now sitting on the ground a few feet away. The dragon glared.

" **Don't you have anything else to do?** " asked the dragon, " **Burn a building to the ground?** "

" **No!** " answered Hiccup, " **I hate doing that.** "

The dragon ignored her and put his tail between them, hiding his face.

Hiccup quietly moved closer. She slowly reach over to touch the dragon's tail. But the dragon moved his tail so he could see her, " **What?** "

" **Nothing**!" said Hiccup as she quickly got to her feet and speed-walked away.

The dragon hung himself like a bat on a large tree branch and tried to sleep. But he couldn't.

After a few hours of hanging upside down , he got down and scanned the cove for Hiccup.

He saw her sitting on a rock.

Hiccup was drawing the dragon in the dirt with a stick.

" **What do you call that?** " he asked.

" **It's called drawing.** " explained Hiccup.

" **Drawing?** "

" **Yep.** "

The dragon stood up on his hind legs like a human and walked over to a small tree. He ripped it out of the ground and began to drag it through the dirt.

" **What are you doing?** " asked Hiccup.

" **What does it look like I'm doing?** " asked the dragon, " **I'm drawing?** "

After a few moments of scribbling, the Night Fury dropped the tree and examined his work.

Hiccup looked around. This dragon found interest in her talent.

She took a few steps until the dragon growled at her. She looked down and realized that she had accidentally stepped on the dragon's drawing.

She lifted her foot.

The dragon began purring.

She stepped over the lines. Carefully she avoiding every line as she walked to the edge.

When she reached the edge, she felt a small wind on the back of her head.

She turned around. She was standing right in front of the dragon. The dragon looked at her.

She reached out her hand. But the dragon turned his head away.

" **Not until I know I can trust you.** " he said.

Hiccup sighed. She turned her head away, so that she couldn't see him. She slowly reached her hand out again. She had a theory that if the dragon knew she trusted him, maybe he would trust her back……. or just kill her.

She waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

Then, she felt the dragon's nose press against her hand.

She sighed with great relief.

She looked to the dragon.

The dragon's eyes were closed.

The dragon drew his head back, and opened his eyes, " **I gotta give it to ya, kid, you're just as stubborn as any dragon I've met. Definitely not a coward.** "

" **Does this mean…….. you trust me?** " asked Hiccup.

" **It's a start.** " replied the dragon. " **If you want, you can call me Toothless. I'll call you Kid.** "

" **…. Am I…… can I keep coming?** "

" **As long as you let me teach you to be a dragon. And work on getting rid of that human smell! Will you?** " Toothless said as he glided away.

Hiccup smiled. She finally had someone that trusted her.


	6. From Falling to Flying to Falling Again

Hiccup stared absentmindedly at her fish, thinking about her day.

 _I still can't believe it, that dragon trusted me. He's probably the only one who will ever trust me….._

"And with one twist," said Gobber, "he took my hand, and swallowed it whole."

Hiccup and the other teens were sitting around a fire pit on the top of one of the towers. Gobber was telling stories of his adventures with the dragons.

"And I saw the look on his face." Gobber added, "I was delicious. He must have passed the word because it wasn't even a month before another one of them took me leg."

The teenagers awed.

"Isn't it weird to think your hand was inside a dragon," suggested Fishlegs, "but like your mind was still in control of it? You could've killed the dragon from the inside by……. crushing its heart or something."

Snotlout growled with false fury, "I swear I'm so angry right now."

He pointed to Gobber and promised him, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight…… with my face!"

"Uh-uh," said Gobber, ripping a leg off of his chicken, "it's the wings and the tails that you want. If it can't fly, it can't get away."

Hiccup heard this and listened as Gobber said, "A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

"Hear that Hiccup?" asked Snotlout, "Better make sure you know how to fly."

Hiccup ignored Snotlout's comment. She was too busy thinking.

 _I have to help Toothless. If I don't do something the others will find him. He can't get away. He's just as good as dead as I am._

Hiccup left her fish by the fire and left. Astro was the only one who noticed her leaving. But he didn't follow. He didn't want to prove the twins' theory about him being in love with Hiccup.

Hiccup entered the black smith shop. And drew the left tail-fan back onto the tail of the dragon.

She took a shield apart and grabbed some leather. She made connecting rods out of scrap metal. Within a few hours, she had created an artificial tail-fan.

Now all she had to do, was put it on Toothless.

The next morning, Hiccup went to the cove. She had brought a large basket of fish, and the artificial tail-fan.

She saw Toothless lying on the ground next to the pond.

" **Hey Toothless,** " she sang, " **I brought breakfast. I hope you're hungry.** "

She set the basket on the ground and spilled the fish out.

Toothless sniffed at the fish, but growled.

" **What?** " asked Hiccup.

" **There's an eel in there.** " suspected Toothless.

" **What do you mean?** "

" **There's an eel in there! Do you eat eels?** "

Hiccup noticed a long, slender, black and yellow, striped body in the pile of fish. She quickly pulled it out and threw it away.

" **Snotlout!!** " she yelled in fury.

" **Who's he?** " asked Toothless.

" **He's someone who loves to tease me about being a dragon. He thinks I eat eels.** "

Toothless began to eat the fish.

"Now," said Hiccup, edging toward Toothless' tail, "don't mind me. I'll be back here. Minding my own business….."

She placed the tail-fan along the tail. But the tail kept moving.

" **Hey. It's okay.** " Hiccup soothed. After a few moments of struggling to hold the tail down, she finally sat the dragon's tail as she fastened the tail-fan on.

Toothless stopped eating. He quickly realized what was happening.

Toothless slowly spread his wings. Ready to fly. But Hiccup didn't notice until after she finished adjusting the tail.

The black dragon suddenly shot from the ground, taking Hiccup with him.

Hiccup held on with all her might to ensure that she didn't fall.

You might have been wondering why Hiccup wouldn't just fly off. The reason was because she never had the chance to learn how to fly. Her father had forbidden her to do so.

Hiccup saw that the artificial tail-fan couldn't open on its own. So she had to hold it open in order to help Toothless stay off the ground.

"It's working!" exclaimed Hiccup. She turned the dragon's tail to guide him back into the cove.

Toothless was so excited about being able to fly that he didn't notice Hiccup was on his tail until he heard her exclaiming, "Yes! I did it!"

He looked at her. And turned to sharply that he flicked Hiccup right off his tail.

Hiccup tried to glide to the ground, but she just didn't know how. Instead she crashed into the pond. Toothless did the same. Since Hiccup wasn't on his tail, the artificial tail-fan couldn't stay open. So Toothless only glided a few meters before crashing in the water.

"Haha!" yelled Hiccup as she swam to the shore, "Yeah!"

" **What the hell were you thinking?** " asked a slightly unimpressed Toothless, " **Riding my tail?You could've been killed!** "

" **First of all, a little warning would've been nice. Second, I was thinking that if I made you an artificial tail-fan, you'd be able to fly again. I just need to make some adjustments.** "

" **You are crazy! You know that, Kid?** "

" **I'm part Viking! Of course I'm crazy.** "

Once the two were on the ground, Hiccup confessed, " **To be honest, that was the best flight I've had so far.** "

" **Flight isn't just for enjoyment. It's for safety."**

" **I know….. I'd better go. I'm expected at the arena in an hour.** "

Hiccup walked to the exit, and waved to Toothless, " **See ya.** "

" **Later Kid.** "


	7. A Turn for the Better

"Today," announced Gobber, "is about teamwork!"

The cell doors to one of the cages burst open, allowing a large cloud of green gas to fill the arena.

Gobber continued explaining, "A wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes has, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

Fishlegs began to recite any facts about the dragon he could remember, "Razor- sharp serrated teeth, prefers ambush attacks for crushing its victims-"

"Will you please stop that?!" whispered Hiccup angrily.

Hiccup was the unfortunate person who got paired up with the literal biggest geek and nerd of the class. Snotlout got paired up with Tuffnut and Astro was with Ruffnut.

For a long three minutes, there was silence. Everyone was focused on watching for any sign of the dragon's movement. Hiccup secretly used her dragon vision. But she couldn't see the Zippleback…… yet.

Snotlout broke the silence by bragging, "If that dragon shows either of its faces…." But he was interrupted when he saw a dragon-looking figure in the gas. He pointed at the figure and yelled, "There!" and both boys dumped the water out of their buckets-onto Ruffnut and Astro.

"Hey!" exclaimed Ruffnut, "Its us, idiots!"

"Your butt is getting bigger, Sis," commented Tuffnut, "we thought you were a dragon."

Snotlout tried to cover the insult, "Not that there's anything wrong with a drangoness figure." But before he could finish his sentence, Astro punched him, and Ruffnut threw her bucket at Tuffnut. Tuffnut sat up, just before he suddenly disappeared in the gas.

Astro made a shushing gesture at Snotlout and Ruffnut. He got ready to dump the water on the dragon's head, but a green, forked tail swiped at his legs, knocking him down.

Tuffnut came running out of the green fog, past Hiccup and Fishlegs, who had not yet used their buckets.

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now." commented Fishlegs.

A green dragon head emerged from the gas.

Fishlegs quickly dumped the water onto the head. The dragon gurgled, letting green gas leak out of its mouth. "Oops." said Fishlegs, "Wrong head."

The Zippleback head blew a large cloud of gas at the boy's head. Fishlegs ran away screaming.

The head looked at Hiccup, joined by another one-the left head. The left head revealed its sparking abilities in order to scare Hiccup.

"Hiccup! Now!" yelled Gobber.

Hiccup tried to dump the water on the left head from below, but the water didn't raise high enough.

"Aw! Come. On." complained Hiccup.

" **Hey!** " hissed the left head, " **I've heard of this girl. She's the dragon lady!** "

The right head squinted it's eyes to examine Hiccup closely, " **You're right! She is!** "

" **I bet you she doesn't know the first thing about being a dragon. She can't even act human correctly."**

" **Wadd'ya say we teach her what a _real_ dragon does?**"

The left head nodded in excitement.

Hiccup kept facing the Zippleback as it circled her slowly. She wanted Gobber to do something. But all he said was, "Keep it up, Hiccup, don't turn your back to them."

 _Oh thank you, Gobber_ , thought Hiccup, _I would never have thought of that myself._

The left head edged closer to Hiccup with an evil look in its eyes, " **Unless you fight back, this will be over before it even starts."** The dragon roared at Hiccup, making her jump backward and fall onto her back.

"Hiccup!" yelled Gobber, showing the worry in his voice.

" **Don't be scared, dragon lady,** " the right head soothed, " **we'er not gonna kill ya', we're just gonna teach ya' a lesson!** "

"Get back!" Hiccup yelled as she made a shoving motion with her hand. At the same time, she used her other hand to move her fur coat, just enough to reveal the eel that Snotlout put in her basket earlier.

Once the dragon saw it, the dragon jumped backwards in terror.

Hiccup smiled. Her plan was working.

She stood up, and continued to make shoving motions with her hands and commanding, "Back! Back! Back! Now don't you make me tell you again! Yes! That's right! Back into your cage!"

Hiccup smiled at the dragon as it backed all the way into its cell, practically crawling up the far wall. She lifted her coat to let both heads have one last look at the eel, and said, "Now think about what you've done."

In a prideful fashion, Hiccup closed the doors without the Zippleback even edging towards the exit.

Once she locked the doors, she turned around. Every single Viking stared at her, wide-eyed. Even Snotlout and Gobber were shocked. Fishlegs was so shocked that he didn't even noticed that he dropped his bucket.

"Okay!" said Hiccup, trying to break the awkward silence, "So…. Are we done? Because I got some things I need to-uh….. yep! Done."

She walked casually out of the arena, "See you tomorrow."


	8. Lessons On Fight and Flight

Hiccup returned to the blacksmith shop late that night and built a saddle.

She went to the cove and shared her idea with Toothless.

" **No!** " he protested, " **Over my cold, dead body!** "

"Wait!" exclaimed Hiccup.

Hiccup chased after the Night Fury for about twenty minutes before he finally gave up and let her put the saddle on. Hiccup tried steering the tail-fan by pulling a rope in a certain way. But that resulted in both going in opposite directions and crashing in the water.

Toothless tried to persuade Hiccup into sticking with the dragon behaviour lessons. But she insisted that she helped him fly again.

Hiccup made two hooks and attached them to the saddle. She made a belt that had leather strings on each side to help her stay on Toothless' back.

When she attempted for the second time, she tied the rope to her foot. But she ended up making them go down again. They crashed in a field of soft, sweet-smelling grass.

Hiccup rolled in the grass for a few seconds. Every muscle in her body relaxed and she was strangely calm. She found the smell of the grass somewhat comforting and the grass itself felt soft enough to sleep in. She held her upper body off the ground by leaning on her arms. She looked at Toothless who seemed to be in a similar trance.

He kept rolling around in the grass like a playful kitten, laughing as he buried himself in the grass.

" **What is this stuff?** " Hiccup asked through her forcefully calm voice.

Toothless was so focused on enjoying the grass that he was barely able to answer, " **It's called Dragon Nip. It calms it dragons down and helps us think more clearly. But mostly it calms us down.** "

Hiccup held a small handful. _This could come in handy._ She figured.

At the arena, she used the Dragon Nip to calm the Gronckle. The dragon was so calm that she lost her balance and collapsed on the arena floor.

As they walked away from the arena, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs asked Hiccup question after question.

"How did you do that?"

"I've never seen a Gronckle just collapse from a touch on the nose before!"

"What's your secret, Hiccup?"

Hiccup remembered something, "Oh! I left my axe back in the ring. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you." as she ran back, she nearly bumped into Astro.

" **C'mon!** " said Toothless, " **Behind the ear!** "

Hiccup was helping Toothless with an itch on his neck that he couldn't reach. When she moved from behind to ear to under the chin, Toothless suddenly collapsed on the ground, in a similar way from crashing in the Dragon Nip.

 _Amazing!_ thought Hiccup, _I can just use my hands! Wait 'til Snotlout sees this._

Today, they were training with the Deadly Nadder. Astro threw his axe at the dragon, who blocked it with her horn. The Deadly Nadder charged past Astro and towards Hiccup.

Hiccup dropped her weapon and closed her eyes.

The Nadder stopped in surprise, " **What's this?** " the dragon wondered, " **Your method of killing me?** "

Hiccup opened her mouth to explain, but heard Astro yelling as he charged the Nadder, ready to kill her.

Hiccup quickly scratched the dragon. Behind the ear, next to the eye, and then under the chin. The Deadly Nadder dropped as if dead, just as Astro was almost close enough to hurt the dragon.

Both stared at the each other for a long awkward minute.

Later, Hiccup walked into the Great Hall and sat down at her usual spot-the neighbouring table, next to the one the others would sit at. But before she could begin eating, she was swarmed by the teenagers-along with other Vikings. Astro grew very jealous of Hiccup's popularity. He planned to somehow find out how Hiccup became so good at a very fast rate.

At the cove, Hiccup brought a small hammer. Toothless looked at it.

" **What's that for?** " he asked.

" **What's that?** " Hiccup asked in a silly way. She turned the hammer in all directions. Toothless immediately noticed the light that reflected from the hammer. " **Don't go anywhere!** " he yelled, " **You're about to learn the process of hunting!** "

Toothless ran after the reflected light like a fox after a bunny. Hiccup kept moving the light in all directions. Toothless ran everywhere. Failing at catching the light. He chased the light for ten minutes until he noticed Hiccup laughing hysterically.

" **What is so funny**?" asked Toothless over his frustration.

" **It's not……. an animal….. that you're chasing!** " Hiccup gasped between breaths, " **It's the light reflecting off this hammer!** "

" **What?** "

" **When I turned the hammer, the sunlight reflected off of it!** " Hiccup turned the hammer to demonstrate.

" **So….. you're telling me, that for ten minutes, I've been chasing a light?** "

" **Yes!** "

" **Well let me tell you something!** " Hiccup's laughter stopped as soon as she heard Toothless. Toothless glared at Hiccup, but then his glare turned into complete laughter, " **I've never had this much fun in my life!** "

Both laughed hysterically for the next seven and a half minutes.

"Meet the Terrible Terror" announced Gobber, unlocking the cell. But instead of a giant lizard, a baby-sized dragon ran out.

"Ha!" laughed Tuffnut in a mocking tone, "it's like the size of my-" the little dragon suddenly pounced on Tuffnut. By the way he screamed in pain, he must have been feeling a lot of it.

Hiccup used her shield to reflect the sunlight onto the ground next to Tuffnut. Immediately the Terror began to chase the light.

"Oooooh! I'm hurt!" yelled Tuffnut, "I am very much hurt!"

Once he stood up and watched with the others as Hiccup almost effortlessly lead the dragon back into its cage.

"Wow." Tuffnut commented, "She's better than you ever were."

Astro was in the woods, practicing his combat. He kept throwing the axe at trees and summersaulted as her prepared to throw it again. He was just about to let go. If it weren't for his quick reflex skill, he'd of thrown the axe and possibly killed Hiccup, who was just walking by on her way to the cove.

Hiccup tried to walk casually to the cove. She had a feeling that she'd be followed, so she secretly climbed up a tree and quietly traveled along the branches.

In the cove, a violet orb of fire obliterated a branch that was launched through the air.

" **Nice job, Kid!** " exclaimed Toothless, " **Didn't I tell you? It's not so hard. Just aim, and make a shoving gesture. Remember to focus.** "

" **Try again?** " suggested Hiccup.

Toothless chuckled, " **How else are you gonna get better?** "

Once she was done practicing her aim with fire, Hiccup fastened her new riding equipment in place, and attached a rope to Toothless' saddle and a tree stump. As Hiccup carefully observed the different pedal positions, she made a sheet that explained each position's function.

She was about to try another position, when the wind became so strong that the rope snapped. Both crashed into the bushes behind them. Toothless stood up, lifting Hiccup partially off the ground. Hiccup tried to unhook her belt, but the hook was bent and the leather strings were stuck.

" **Oh.** " said Hiccup, " **Perfect! How am going to get home now?** "

" **Just unhook yourself.** " suggested Toothless.

" **Tried that. It won't budge**."

" **Just go back to the village and find something to fix it.** "

" **I think you hit your head on a tree. If I return now, you'll be seen, and then you'll be killed and I'll be back to being the most hated Viking with absolutely nobody who trusts me at all!** "

" **Try going back tonight. I'm black. I'll practically be invisible. We'll be in and out before they even know we're there.** "

" **I hope you're right…. for both our sake.** "

They waited until it was almost midnight. Hiccup walked Toothless through the village to the blacksmith shop. Hiccup scanned the shop to make sure the coast was clear. Once content, she walked into the shop.

Toothless saw a bucket and peeked inside, thinking there was fish. The bucket was empty. Toothless flicked the bucket across the shop with his paw.

The bucket landed on a pile of swords, causing a loud clang.

" **What the hell, Toothless?** " asked Hiccup, praying that the sound wasn't loud enough to be heard.

" **I thought there was fish.** " confessed Toothless.

" **Just keep it down. And hold still.** "

"Hiccup?" called a voice. Hiccup and Toothless froze. Hiccup only knew one person who was curious enough to keep an eye on her: Astro.

"Are you in there?" Astro questioned, sure that Hiccup was in the shop.

Hiccup made a shushing gesture to Toothless, and jumped through the shop window, and quickly closed in behind her.

"Astro! Hey!" stammered Hiccup, trying to think of something to say.

"I don't usually care what people do," said Astro, "but you're acting weird."

Hiccup felt Toothless tugging on the leather string. She stumbled back, and laughed nervously.

 _I'm so dead._ thought Hiccup.

"Well, weirder." added the Hofferson boy.

Hiccup was so her secret was revealed when Toothless pulled so hard that Hiccup was lifted off the ground-then pulled right through the shop window shutters.

She quickly mounted up on Toothless' back and both flew away before Astro could open the shutters.

" **What in the name of Thor were you thinking?** " questioned Hiccup, " **You almost got us killed!** "

" **It was either me trying to get us the heck out of there, or one of those stupid sheep that were about to cry 'dragon'!** "


	9. Hiccup Can't Fly

Gobber helped Stoick onto the dock. The fleet was attacked by dragons.

"I trust you've found the nest at least?"

Gobber asked.

Stoick shook his head, "Not even close. I hope you've had better success than me."

"Well, if by 'success', you mean your parenting troubles are over, yes."

A small group of Vikings came to greet Stoick and tell him the good news.

"Congratulations Stoick! Everyone is so relieved!"

"Out with the old and in with the new, right?"

"No one will miss that old nuisance!"

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"

Stoick was confused. Who were they talking about? Were they referring to….. Hiccup? But that couldn't be.

He turned to face Gobber, "She's gone?"

"Yeah." said Gobber, "Most afternoons. But who could blame her? The life of a celebrity is very rough. She can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by her new fans."

"Hiccup?"

"Who would have thought huh? She's figured out a new way to use her powers for the benefit of the village. Since she's part dragon, the dragons might fear her, thinking of her as some kind of goddess or something. This could give us an advantage! She has this way of controlling the beasts."

Stoick thought about everything he was told. He decided to speak to Hiccup.

Hiccup and Toothless were out flying. Hiccup was testing her latest idea. She had her little cheat sheet clipped to the saddle in front of her.

" **Okay, Toothless,** " she suggested, " **we're gonna take this nice and slow.** "

Hiccup adjusted the foot pedal to position four. The Night Fury turned gracefully. "Yes!" exclaimed Hiccup, "It worked!" She became overconfident as she came to a sea-stack. As she tried to steer the dragon past it, she accidentally made Toothless bump into it.

" **Sorry.** " she said.

She tried again. But collided with another sea-stack.

" **My fault!** " admitted Hiccup.

Toothless slapped Hiccup with his ear, " **take us higher. We won't hit anything up there.** "

" **Yeah! Yeah! I'm on it!** "

Hiccup adjusted the foot pedal to position three. Toothless flew so high that Hiccup felt her ears popping.

" **This is so amazing!** " exclaimed Hiccup, " **the wind in my-** "

The cheat sheet came too loose in the clip and began to fall.

" **Stop!** " screamed Hiccup.

Toothless stopped ascending. He stopped so quickly that Hiccup's belt unlatched from the saddle.

Hiccup and Toothless began to fall toward the earth below.

" **Oh no!** " Hiccup screamed over and over again.

" **What are you waiting for?** " asked Toothless, " **Use your wings! Fly towards me!** "

" **No!** "

" **Why not?** "

" **Because I can't!** "

" **Just flap your wings and fly to me!** "

" **I can't!** "

" **Can't what?** "

" **I can't fly!** "

" **You can't what?** " Toothless was so shocked that he accidentally slapped Hiccup with his tail. The accident turned out to be a good thing, because it created a wind current that brought Hiccup close enough to grab hold of the saddle. She pulled herself into place and put her feet into the pedals.

Toothless spread his wings, trying to stop. But the dragon was falling so fast that they didn't have enough time to stop or turn before they would crash into a maze of sea-stacks that was right in front of them.

Hiccup tried to look at the cheat sheet. But the wind made it impossible.

Hiccup let go of the sheet and recalled everything she could.

With some source of luck, Hiccup was able to remember each function of each position. And she safely guided the Night Fury through.

Once all was clear, Hiccup threw her arms up in the air, " **Ye-e-e-a-a-a-h-h!** "

Toothless shot an orb of fire in front of him.

" **Woah!** " exclaimed Hiccup as she covered herself with her wings, protecting herself from the fire.

Hiccup sat in front of the fire, cooking a fish that she had caught herself. She couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities of anything like that could've happened.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Toothless, " **You can't fly?** "

" **No.** " Hiccup answered, " **I can't.** "

" **Why?** "

" **I'm not allowed to use my powers. My dad said that it would lead to me killing someone. I tried to tell him how learning to use my powers would help me control them. But he just… doesn't listen to me. So, I never got to learn how to fly."**

" **Well. I'm going to fix that tomorrow. Tomorrow, you're going to learn how to fly.** "

" **I'm warning you. I'm going to crash more than you ever have in your life.** "

" **I know.** "

" **Gee. How comforting.** "

" **Kid. Are you going to master walking on your first attempt?** "

" **….. No?** "

" **Will you master running or jumping on your first try?** "

" **No. You'll fall.** "

" **Exactly. You're going to fall. That's part of learning. The fun part is getting up again. We dragon's have a saying that a lot of us live by. It goes, 'fly or die.'** "

" **'Fly or die'?** "

" **Yep. When we're really scared, or sure that we're most likely gonna die, we fly away.** "

" **But you're the deadliest creatures known to man. How can you be scared of anything?** "

" **I was today. I was scared that we were gonna die when we were falling**."

" **I always thought you dragons were nothing but brave and courageous.** "

" **Courage is not the absence of fear, Kid, it's staring fear in the face and pushing forward anyway. Because you know that you're facing your fear for something you stand for.** "

Hiccup stared at her fish. It was nearly burnt after the conversation.

" **Here.** " suggested Toothless, vomiting a fish head on the ground, " **Have mine.** "

" **Uh… no thanks, I'm good.** "

Toothless chuckled, " **Your loss….. you know? Meeting you was probably one of the best things that happened to me.** "

" **Yeah. I guess it was."**

" **I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow, Hiccup** _._ "

Hiccup stared at Toothless in surprise, " **Did you just call me 'Hiccup'?** "

" **Consider yourself one of my friends. I only call my friends by their name**."

A group of Terrible Terrors landed near Hiccup and Toothless.

Hiccup watched as the small dragons tried to steal the fish from Toothless. One was about to shoot fire at Toothless, with the black dragon shot an orb of fire right into the Terror's mouth.

Toothless smiled as the dragon stumbled away.

" **Not so fireproof on the inside? Are you?** " asked Hiccup. She threw her burnt fish on the ground next to the Terrible Terror.

The small dragon are the fish contently.

" **Thank you.** " It said shyly. It was male.

Hiccup smiled, " **No problem.** "

The Terrible Terror walked over to Hiccup and rested on her lap, letting her scratch his back.

"Everything we know about you guys," Hiccup said to herself, "it's all wrong.


	10. A Talk With Stoick

Hiccup sat at her desk in the blacksmith shop, flicking her pencil up the desk and letting it roll back down to her fingers.

She was pondering everything she knew about the Vikings and the dragons.

They thought that dragons were mindless, blood-thirsty, animals. But now that she had seen their daily lives with her own eyes, she knew that they were just as intelligent and gentle as humans. Just, bigger, and stronger.

Now, she was faced with a choice. She had to choose a side. She had grown up with the Vikings. They never accepted her efforts, but she trusted them, and wanted the best for her tribe. If she stayed, she'd be turning away from her only friend. But she'd be loyal to her father. She had also grown up half dragon. The flying serpents seemed as though they accepted her just as she was. But if she joined them, she'd be betraying her tribe, of which she was the heir to the throne.

 _What side do I choose? she kept asking herself._

Suddenly, she heard footsteps entering the back room. She turned and saw her father standing right in front of her.

"Dad!" Hiccup jumped backwards, "You're back! Uh…. Gobber's not here. So…"

"I know. I came looking for you."

"For me?"

"You've been keeping secrets."

"I-I have?"

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?"

Hiccup's heart began to speed up. Did Stoick know about Toothless? Had he seen her? She tried to deny it, "I-I…. I don't know what you're…."

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it. So, let's talk… about that dragon."

Hiccup sighed, Stoick had discovered everything. "Dad, I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you-I just didn't know how I-"

Stoick suddenly began to laugh. Hiccup joined in nervously, then asked, "You're not upset?"

"What?" questioned Stoick, insulted, "I was hoping for this!"

"Uh…. You were?"

"And it only gets better! Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time. And mount you're first Gronckle head on a spear!"

Stoick shoved Hiccup backward with joy and exclaimed, "What a feeling! You really had me going there, Hiccup! All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen!"

Hiccup sighed. It turned out Stoick had fallen for her trick as well. But she was somewhat disappointed because she couldn't tell Stoick that dragons weren't what they were thought to be.

Stoick continued, "Odin! It was rough, I almost gave up on ya! But all the while you were holding out on me-oh Thor almighty!"

Stoick pulled up and stool and sat on it, "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about."

Hiccup was rather hurt inside. Everyone accepted her now that she was no longer herself. Did they really hate her that much?

"Oh!" Stoick held up a traditional Viking helmet. "I brought you something. To keep you safe in the ring."

"Wow!" breathed Hiccup, "Thanks!"

"Aye! Your mother would've wanted you to have it. It's part of her breastplate."

Hiccup was sliding her fingers along the rim when Stoick said this. She immediately lifted her hand off the helmet and held it by the horn. Hiccup chuckled nervously.

Stoick tapped his own helmet, "Matching set. Keeps her close."

"Okay….?" Hiccup placed the helmet on the desk.

There was a long, awkward silence. Hiccup knew she had to get away. So she pretended to be tired.

With a fake yawn, she admitted, "I should really get to bed."

"Alright then," nodded Stoick, "Good talk."

"And thank you for the-Uh-breast hat."

"The hat. Yeah."

Stoick clumsily left the back room.

Hiccup remembered something. One final class would be taught tomorrow. If she won, she'd be chosen to kill the dragon. She knew she couldn't afford to win. So she'd have to make sure she lost. She couldn't try anything to even get the dragon's attention.


	11. Astrid's Discovery

The second final lesson was early the next morning. Nearly the entire village was eager to see Hiccup's success in fighting a dragon.

Hiccup and Astro were the only ones left. The dragon for today was the Gronckle.

Hiccup was leaning against a small wooden barrier. Astro sat down next to her. The boy grabbed her shield, leaned towards Hiccup's face and said very crossly, "Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing." Astro stood up to move to a different barrier.

"Good!" called Hiccup as the boy ran away, "Please! By all means!"

She stood up and looked to the crowd. Stoick was there. Expecting her to win easily.

Hiccup didn't want to win. She decided to make the dragon mad enough to hurt her, then Astro would take it down and be the hero and winner. He'd win the honour instead of her.

Hiccup turned around as the Gronckle flew toward her.

Meanwhile Astro was following it stealthily from behind. He closed his eyes and promised, "This time. This time. For sure."

Astro kept over the barriers, ready to attack the dragon. But only found it lying on the ground next to Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't even do anything. The dragon just collapsed before her. Hiccup looked at Astro with Fury, wanting to scream, "Why didn't you take the chance? You were supposed to win you idiot!"

The crowd cheered.

"No!" screamed Astro, "You son of a half-troll, rat-eating, lunch bucket!"

 _I feel your pain._ thought Hiccup.

"So, later-" Hiccup tried to slip away unnoticed, but Gobber hooked Hiccup's coat, "No you don't! Not yet."

"Quiet down everyone!" yelled Stoick, "The elder has decided."

 _Please don't choose me_. Hiccup pleaded, _Please. Don't. Pick. Me._

Gobber gestured to Astro. Gothi, the village elder, shook her head.

Hiccup internally screamed in terror. Astro wasn't chosen. That meant….

Gothi nodded confidently as Gobber pointed to Hiccup. Everyone cheered. Everyone, that was, except for Astro. He was too busy giving Hiccup a glare that would've made her drop dead on the spot.

"You've done it!" exclaimed Gobber, "You get to kill the dragon! Your first dragon!"

Stoick laughed with joy, "That's my girl!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Hiccup on false enthusiasm, "Yes! I can't wait! I am! So-

" **-leaving**!" Hiccup announced to no one as she entered the cove, " **We're leaving. Let's pack up! Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation-forever!** "

Hiccup set down a large basket, in which she had packed her belongings. She took out her riding belt and put it on.

Just then, she heard the sound of a rock sliding against metal. As if a weapon were being sharpened.

Hiccup looked up. Astro was sitting on a boulder, sharpening his axe.

Hiccup yelped in surprise. As she jumped backward she lost her footing and fell. Hiccup panted a few times before shouting, "Don't sneak up on people like that! What are you doing here?"

Astro dropped the rock and stepped off the boulder, walking towards Hiccup, "I wanna know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially. You."

Hiccup staggered backwards, trying to back away from Astro. But the boy kept walking closer.

"For someone who hasn't used their powers for a few weeks, you seem to have improved at them hidden." suspected Astro.

"I've figured out what I feel when I'm about to use them."

"Start talking, Hiccup, are you training with someone? A dragon personality, perhaps?"

"Uh…"

"You've been using your powers here so that you could win. Haven't you? That's cheating!"

"Look. This may be hard to understand, but-"

Something caused a few branches to shake. Astro heard the noise and turned to where Toothless would sleep.

 _Toothless! Why?_ Hiccup mentally complained.

Astro began to walked toward the source of the sound.

Hiccup scrambled to get between Astro and the tree, trying to get him out of the cove, "You're right! You're right! I through with the lies! I've been using my powers to find out what weaknesses dragons have so that I could prove that I can be useful."

Hiccup grabbed Astro's hand, "You got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go-"

Astro twisted Hiccup's arm.

After yelling "Ow!" Hiccup asked, "Why the hell did you do that?"

Astro kicked Hiccup to the ground, "That's for the lies. And that's," he dropped his axe so the handle hit Hiccup's chest, "for everything else!"

Growling was heard from the tree.

"Oh no." groaned Hiccup. She stood up, only to be tackled by Astro who yelled, "Get down!"

When Hiccup looked up, and saw Astro getting ready to throw his axe at Toothless.

Hiccup blasted the axe out of Astro's hands and jumped between him and the dragon.

"Stop!" she yelled to Astro, "Don't hurt him!" She turned to Toothless to calm him down, " **Toothless! It's okay! He's a friend.** "

" **He's also the one who nearly spotted me in the blacksmith shop!** "

" **Just calm, down! I'm sure he was just curious.** "

Hiccup turned to Astro. Shock, fear and disbelief were in his eyes. "It's okay," soothed Hiccup, "you just scared him."

"I scared him?" questioned Astro, scrambling to get to his feet, "Who the heck is him?"

Hiccup smiled nervously and gestured to the dragon, "Astro, this is my friend and trainer, Toothless." Then she looked to Toothless and gestured to Astro, " **Toothless, this is my fellow trainee, Astro.** "

Hiccup was hoping that Toothless would at least try to be friendly. But all Toothless did was growl at Astro.

Astro looked at Hiccup, "Obviously, I made a mistake in telling you to pick a side. You're converting to the dragons' side."

"No!" protested Hiccup, "It's nothing like that!"

"I'm telling Stoick."

"No!"

"He needs to know that there's a traitor on his island!"

Hiccup watched in terror as Astro ran away.

" **Dut-du-duh!** " she sang, " **We're dead.** "

" **What do you mean 'we'?** " asked Toothless. He turned around and began walking back to his tree, " **You're the one that came here every day. Someone was bound to find out.** "

" **You told me to!** "

" **No! I gave you to option, and you took it.** "

" **We'll discuss this later! First we have to stop Astro!** "

" **No! No! You're stopping him. I'm staying here.** "

" **Fine! I'll stop him.** "

" **Thank you!** "

" **Or fail to stop him because I can't fly and I'm a slow runner and that will cost your life**."

 **"…. You are the most annoying human I've met!** " Toothless ran past Hiccup, letting her mount up onto his back.

" **You're not the first to say that!** " replied Hiccup.

Both ran after Astro.

Astro was jumping over a log when a big, black paw caught him by the arm. "No-o-o-o! No!" Astro screamed as he saw the ground below him become distant.

Toothless dropped Astro on a tree branch. The tree was just leaning over the cove. Astro struggled to hold on.

He looked up and saw Hiccup sitting on the dragon's back. "Hiccup!" the boy yelled, "Get me down from here!"

"You need to give me a chance to explain!" Hiccup pleaded.

Astro shook his head, "I am not listening to anything you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak." suggested Hiccup, "Just let me show you, Astro."

Astro didn't answer.

"Please."

Astro began to climb up. He seemed to have accepted the fact that riding the dragon was his only safe way down. Toothless growled warningly as Astro sat on the dragon's back behind Hiccup. Astro said the first thing on his mind, "Get me down."

" **Toothless,** " Hiccup purred, " **down. Gently.** "

Toothless spread his wings and let the wind raise him slowly.

"See?" asked Hiccup, "Nothing to be afraid of."

" **Think again.** " Toothless growled.

Before Hiccup to say "No." Toothless took off into the air at a high speed. Astro wrapped his arms around Hiccup in order to hold on, screaming uncontrollably as Hiccup yelled at Toothless.

" **Toothless! Stop it! Stop it right now! Bad dragon!** " She turned to Astro and chuckled nervously, "He's not usually like this."

Toothless flipped himself so he was upside down, and let himself fall into the water below.

Toothless kept diving in and out of the water. As he did, in between dives, Hiccup yelled, " **Toothless what are you doing? We need him to like us!** "

Hiccup didn't know that Toothless was trying to make Astro apologize for hurting Hiccup.

Toothless flew up and began spiralling wildly.

" **Well thank you for nothing!** " Hiccup said sarcastically, " **You useless reptile!** "

" **One to talk, Hiccup!** " said Toothless.

"Okay!" yelled Astro, closing his eyes and holding on to Hiccup as hard as he could, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!"

Toothless heard Astro's trembling voice. The boy was terrified.

Toothless stopped flying wildly and began to glide gracefully.

Astro opened his eyes. Everything was calm. He loosened his grip on Hiccup and looked around. Everything in sight was breathtaking. The clouds were painted red, purple and pink from the setting sun. The ocean waves danced around in the wind. Astro stared all around him wide-eyed until the sun was gone and the sky was only lit by the Northern Lights. Toothless smiled at Astro, wearing an expression on his face that said "not so bad now is it?"

"Alright," Astro said at last, "I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's…. amazing." He began to rub Toothless' shoulder, "He's amazing."

Hiccup nodded.

"So what now?" Astro wondered. He remembered what he had previously followed Hiccup for, "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're gonna have to-" he remembered that Toothless was with them. So he whispered, "kill a dragon."

"Don't remind me." replied Hiccup, "I was kind of hoping that you'd win. I was really upset when I ended up being chosen."

" **You're here**!" exclaimed a deep, male voice. Hiccup looked around confused, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" questioned Astro.

"That voice." Hiccup explained. "Like a male voice."

"That must be Toothless."

"No. His voice sounds different. **Did you hear that voice Toothless?** "

Toothless didn't even acknowledge that he was spoken to.

" **Toothless?** " Hiccup asked, " **Can you even hear me?** "

" **The Night Fury is busy.** " explained the voice, " **He's finishing a mission I sent those dragons on long ago. He's taking you home**."

" **Who are you?** "

" **You'll find out soon enough.** "

"Hiccup?" questioned Astro, "Are you talking to someone? What are you growling at?"

" **I'm waiting for you**." continued the voice, " **I've been waiting for quite a while. My dragons have been watching you. I allowed the dragon to help you learn who you really are. He unknowingly lead you right to me.** "

" **You're the one they sent.** " Hiccup realized aloud, " **You're their master.** "

" **Intelligent. Just like a dragon**."

" **What do you want with me? Why am I so important to you?** "

Hiccup could hear Astro still asking her, "Hiccup, who are you talking to? Why are you growling?"

" **You should warn your friend to hold on.** " The voice warned, " **It's going to be a bumpy ride**."

"Astro?" Hiccup asked.

"Hiccup," said Astro, "what were you doing. We're you talking to someone?"

"Hold on."

"What?"

"No time to explain. Just hold-"

Suddenly a swarm of dragons emerged from the clouds. They realized that they were in the middle of Hellheim's Gate. Dragons were all around them, carrying food. Hiccup looked at the dragons. They seemed to be in some sort of trance. Almost as if they were hypnotized. Hiccup looked at Toothless. He behaved the same way.

Every dragon began to dive. They flew around many sea-stacks and flew toward a volcano. There was a strange noise. It was like hissing and purring combined. The dragon's flew into the tunnels of the volcano. They flew through the maze of tunnels until they reached a large cavern.


	12. Meeting the Master

The cavern had a large pit that had smoke rising from it. There was a reddish light emerging from the pit.

Toothless flew around the cavern until he landed on a ledge that reached over the pit.

The dragon's took turns flying over the pit, dropping the dead animals into it.

Hiccup chuckled sarcastically, "Well it's satisfying to know that all our food has been dumped down a hole."

"They're not eating any of it." Astro observed.

As if it were to explain why, a weary Gronckle hovered over the pit, and dropped a small fish from its mouth.

A moment later, there was a low growl. The Gronckle became scared. But at the next second, a giant, nightmarish head rose from the smoke and trapped the Gronckle in its mouth, devouring it immediately.

"What?" asked Astro, "What is that?"

Other dragons scrambled to hide.

" **Where is she?** " Hiccup heard the giant dragon ask. " **Where is the girl?** "

Suddenly Toothless rolled over, sending Astro and Hiccup onto the ground next to him. Hiccup looked at Toothless, still seemingly in a hypnotic trance. The Night Fury pushed Hiccup over the edge.

Hiccup tried to fly back up, but since she still didn't know how to fly, she clumsily landed onto the ground in front of the giant dragon.

" **There you are.** " the dragon smiled. " **Welcome to my nest.** "

" **Who are you**?" Hiccup asked, " **Why did you bring me here?** "

" **This is where you belong.** "

" **No. I belong at home.** "

" **In the humans' village? Didn't they hate you?** "

" **No. They just didn't like the fact that I'm part dragon.** "

" **They do hate you. They hate you because you have the soul of a dragon.** "

" **They're just scared that I'll hurt someone.** "

" **They may have let you live. But that doesn't mean they accept you. They only let you live because they need an heir.** "

" **That doesn't mean you have the right to kidnap me and my friend.** "

 **"I didn't kidnap you. I brought you here to help you get home. But since I don't have your allegiance, I'm giving you a choice. You can stay here and live, or you can return to the village and die with the humans.** "

" **That's not a choice,"** retorted Hiccup, " **that's a threat.** "

" **You still have a choice as to whether you live or die.** " The dragon smiled evilly.

" **Do you really think I'm going to abandon the village that easily?** " Hiccup asked, " **I would rather burn with my village than live in fear of you."**

" **Don't be so serious. I need you alive just as much as a plant needs sunlight to grow. I'm going to destroy the human village no matter what you do. I'm just gonna make sure you live.** "

" **I'm not staying with you. And I'm not letting you destroy Berk without fighting back**."

" **I'll look forward to that. Also, starting for now, I shall refer to you with your dragon name.** "

" **My dragon name?** "

" **Every dragon has a name of the dragon tongue mine is Kullgen, the I am of the rare species called the Red Death. I shall call you Zendri.** "

" **Why can't you just call me Hiccup?** "

" **It's your human name. We dragons despise humans.** "

" **If you'd just give us a chance, is sure we could find a way to-** "

" **You think we don't want to give them a chance?** " the dragon bellowed, **"I have tried giving them a chance. Century after century. But all they do in return is hunt us down and use our hides for their benefit. You humans are the reason we are constantly struggling to survive. Once I've finally put you humans in your place, you will have no choice but to beg for our aid. And we will be the ones who benefit from you!** "

Overcome by anger, Kullgen swiped at Hiccup with his giant paw. Hiccup leapt off the ground, trying desperately to fly away.

" **Toothless!** " the girl screamed, " **I need you! Help!"**

Hiccup's screaming was by some miracle just enough to snap Toothless out of the trance. He saw her struggling to fly away from Kullgen. He knew that Kullgen like giving his victims false hope by letting them try to escape before eating them.

He grabbed Astro with his paw and leaped down toward Hiccup. Hiccup glided to the black dragon and mounted onto his back. She quickly put her feet in the pedals and directed the dragon out of the nest.

Other dragons saw what had happened, and flew out as quickly as they could.

Kullgen heaved himself up at Hiccup. He snapped his mouth closed, catching the tail of a Zippleback instead. Infuriated, he pulled the dragon down and devoured it as the other dragons fled.

Once he had finished killing the dragon and calmed down, he smiled wickedly.

" **That little fool thinks she's escaped. But once I've deciphered how that mind of her works, I'll be the one with the advantage.** "

Toothless landed on the ground next to the pond in the cove. Astro dismounted and ran toward the exit, "We have to tell your dad."

"No!" Hiccup pleaded, "Don't! They'll kill Toothless! We need to find another way."

"Hiccup," Astro protested, "we just discovered the dragons' nest! The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here! And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

"He's not my pet," explained Hiccup, "he's my friend. The only friend I've ever had in my entire life. He's the only one who's trusted me. He even saved my life back there. I can't tell my dad. If they kill him, I fail to pay my life debt toward him, I lose my only friend, and I go back to being hated. I'm tired of not being enough and not being accepted. I don't want to go back there."

Astro stopped. He realized how Hiccup's life had been. She was right. She was never enough. And she really didn't want to lose her only friend.

"Okay." He gave in, "So what do we do now?"

"Just…. give me until tomorrow. I'll think of something."

"Okay."

Astro remembered that Hiccup had brought him on that flight against his will. He punched Hiccup in the arm and said, "That's for kidnapping me."

Hiccup shook her head, confused.

Then, Astro did something Hiccup never thought he'd do, he kissed her cheek. "That's for…. everything else." Astro shyly ran away, hardly able to believe that he had just kissed the very girl he had pretended to hate. Until now, he was hiding the fact that he secretly had a crush on Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled.

Toothless walked up to Hiccup and looked at her expression. " **So I take it the date went well?** "

" **What?** "

" **That flight was practically a date….. until Kullgen ruined it.** "

" **Alright, I admit it. I kind of have a crush on him. But at least I know he feels the same way towards me.** "

" **Let me know when the wedding takes place.** " chuckled Toothless as he walked toward the big tree to go to sleep.

" **Very funny.** " Hiccup shook her head. She walked home.


	13. All Effort Proven as Wasted

The next day had every Viking on Berk rushing to get a good spot. They were eager to see Hiccup officially join their side. Once Hiccup spilled the Monstrous Nightmare's blood on the arena floor, it would undoubtedly mean that she chose to kill the dragons and abandon her dragon side.

The crowed chanted Hiccup's name until Stoick raised his hand for silence.

"Well," he said, "I can show my face in public again. If someone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being….. well….. Hiccup, to placing first in Dragon Training, I would've tied him to a mast, and shipped him off, for fear he'd gone mad!"

The crowd cheered in agreement.

"However," continued Stoick, "here we are. No one's more surprised, or more proud than I am."

Hiccup stood at the entrance. She was nearly crying. Her father was only proud of her because she was no longer herself. The village obviously never accepted her. She was never enough. Now, she'd most likely be worse than ever before. What if her plan didn't work?

"Today," Stoick announced proudly, "my daughter becomes a Viking. Today, she becomes one of us!"

The crowed cheered even louder.

Hiccup felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Astro. "Be careful with that dragon."

Hiccup looked at Stoick who was taking his seat in his throne, "it's not the dragon I'm worried about."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Put a stop to this… I have to try."

Hiccup turned to Astro with doubt in her eyes, "Astro, if something… goes wrong…. just promise me they won't find Toothless."

"I promise. Just promise me it won't go wrong."

Hiccup opened her mouth to say yes. But Gobber stole her attention, "Its time, Hiccup. Knock him dead."

Hiccup walked into the arena. The crowd cheered at their loudest the moment they saw her. Gobber closed the gate behind the girl.

Her legs were shaking as she forced them to carry her to the weapon stand. She knew with every fibre of her being that the cheering crowd would soon become an angry horde. They would realise that she had been lying to them the whole time. They might never trust her with anything again. She knew that it was what could happen. But she kept hoping for the best.

She reached the weapon stand. She grabbed a shield and a small knife. She breathed a long, shaky breath, "I'm ready."

The Vikings unlocked the gate. Hiccup began panting, holding every breath dear, as they may prove to be her last.

There was silence.

The doors to the cage suddenly burst wide open. A large body covered in flames leapt out of the cage. The Monstrous Nightmare.

The Monstrous Nightmare crawled along the chains that enclosed the top of the arena. It was looking for a way out. It blew fire all over the place.

Hiccup stared at the dragon, wide-eyed. The Monstrous Nightmare realized that there was no escape, and looked down to Hiccup. It dropped to the floor, and began edging toward the girl dangerously.

"Go on, Hiccup!" shouted one of the spectating men, "Give it to 'em!"

Hiccup backed away slowly. She dropped her shield, then her knife.

Stoick was shocked. No Viking had ever willingly given up their weapons while fighting a dragon. "What's she doing?"

Hiccup kept her eye on the dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare growled warningly, " **You shouldn't drop your weapons in a fight, human. That could lead to a disadvantage**."

Hiccup pretended not to understand the dragon, suspecting that if she revealed that she did, the dragon would try to take her away.

"It's okay." she soothed, "Its okay."

The dragon growled again, " **I don't believe you. You're making me lower my guard so that you can kill me. Once your body has been ripped apart, they'll know that dragons are the dominant creatures of this world.** "

Hiccup slowly removed her helmet from her head. She looked at Stoick. He was shocked. She looked back to the dragon, and threw the helmet away, saying, "I'm not one of them."

The dragon looked at her, and stopped staring at her like a predator, but more like a curious animal.

Astro looked at the crowd from behind the gate. Everyone was shocked at Hiccup's statement. A few Vikings were angry. One of them, was Stoick. The chief was on the edge of his throne, "Stop the fight."

"No!" said Hiccup, "I need you all to see this." She reached her hand toward the dragon's snout. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

The Vikings looked to Stoick, waiting for orders. Stoick rose from his throne, "I said stop the fight!" He slammed his hammer against one of the bars of the arena.

The Monstrous Nightmare looked to Hiccup with sudden fury in his eyes, " **I knew it! You were distracting me so they could kill me**!"

" **No!** " Hiccup protested, " **I didn't want him to do that! I'm trying to help you!** "

But the dragon wouldn't listen. The dragon swiped at Hiccup with his paw.

Hiccup sprinted away from the dragon. But immediately realized, there was nowhere to run. The heavy gate was down and there was no telling whether or not anyone strong enough to lift it would get to it in time. She dodged a beam of fire, screaming from the heat that burned her.

It was by some miracle that Toothless was awoken by Hiccup's scream.

Hiccup ran to the weapon stand to grab a shield. But the Monstrous Nightmare shot fire at it. The fire was so hot that it burned Hiccup's hands, and she was forced to drop it.

Desperate to help, Astro used an axe to pry the gate open. He grabbed a large hammer from the weapon stand and threw it at the dragon's head. The Monstrous Nightmare was enraged, and began chasing after Astro.

Stoick was the first to reach the gate. He threw it up and yelled at the teens to run to the exit.

Astro managed to get there. But the Monstrous Nightmare blocked Hiccup's path with fire. Since Hiccup didn't have a lot of scales, her skin wasn't fireproof. She had no choice but to turn around and run the other direction. She felt a paw pushing hard on her. She lost her balance and collapsed on the ground. She was pinned down by the Monstrous Nightmare's paw. The dragon stared at her, with similar looks in his eyes as Toothless had looked at her back in the woods.

" **My master made me risk my hide for you!** " the dragon hissed, " **I think it's time he learned to take 'no' for an answer.** "

Every single Viking watched Hiccup with fear. Their hope of the future was about to die.

Suddenly, there was a screeching noise that grew louder. It grew so loud it was almost deafening. Everyone turned to the noise just in time to see a black blur blast through the bars and into the arena. The entire arena was filled with smoke. But it was blown into thin air by the flapping of large wings.

Two dragon's emerged from the smoke. Gobber knew the dragon. It wasn't any familiar one but the unseen one called the, "Night Fury!"

The Monstrous Nightmare had Toothless lying on his back. He tried to bite the Night Fury's belly, but Toothless kicked him off. He tried to charge past Toothless towards Hiccup. But Toothless kept blocking him. Eventually the Monstrous Nightmare gave up and ran away.

" **Where is the girl?** " questioned Kullgen, waiting for the right moment to act.

" **She's in the arena where they kill dragons.** " replied a dragon.

" **Perfect. It's time. I've deciphered how she thinks. Let's see how she handles mind control.** "

Hiccup ran toward Toothless. " **Alright, Toothless, go! Go! Get out of here!** "

" **I am not leaving you!** "

" **Just go! If you don't leave, they'll kill you!** "

" **I'm not leaving!** "

Hiccup tried to push Toothless toward the exit. She saw Stoick running towards the dragon.

Kullgen watched the events through Hiccup's eyes, waiting for the right moment. That moment had finally come, " **The father. Perfect!** "

"Dad! No!" Hiccup began, "He won't hurt-" suddenly, all her vision went dark. Her sense of hearing was nearly muted, and she only heard echoes. She could hear screaming, and her father's voice pleading. It almost sounded like he was scared and in pain.

Finally, she could see again, and she could hear things clearly. She realized that she was leaning on Stoick. One hand held him by his shirt. His face the chest were scarred. She could see blood on her claws and Stoick's tunic. She looked at her other hand. Her claws were damp with blood. She backed away. She looked around. A lot of Vikings were looking at her with fear. Whenever her field of vision passed over them, they back away. She looked at Toothless. A few Viking's had him pinned down.

"Toothless!" she screamed, trying to help him. But she was held back by Spitelout and Gobber. Each held one arm. "No! Don't!" she pleaded, "Please! Just don't hurt him! Please don't hurt him!"

Stoick looked at Toothless, "Put it with the others." Then he looked to Hiccup, "You're coming with me."

Stoick opened the doors to the Great Hall. He was carrying Hiccup by the scarf of the neck when he threw her in. She rubbed her neck as it throbbed with pain.

"I should've known." he said, "I should've seen the signs."

"Dad. Please." Hiccup stammered.

"We had a deal!"

"I know! But that was after I-oh it's all so messed up."

"So everything in the ring? A trick? A lie?"

"I screwed up. This is all my fault. Take this out on me. Be mad at me. But please, just don't hurt Toothless."

"The dragon? That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"

"He was just protecting me! He's not dangerous!"

"They've killed hundreds of us!"

"And we've killed thousands of them! They defend themselves that's all!"

"You call attacking humans defending yourself?"

"I don't know what happened back there, but I promise you, that wasn't me!"

"Who was cutting me with her claws!"

"I don't know how that happened!"

"You attacked me!"

"No! I didn't!"

"What did they do to you? Is that what they wanted? For you to turn against your own people?"

"Dad! They were trying to take me away because their lives depended on it! If they don't succeed on the task they're given, they'll be killed. There's…. something on their island. It's a dragon-like-"

"Their island?" Stoick almost thought she was kidding when she said "their island". "So you've been to the nest?"

"Did I say nest?"

"How did you find it?"

"No! I didn't! Toothless did! He was somehow mind-controlled! Only a dragon that lives on the island can find it!"

Stoick stared into space. Hiccup didn't need him to say anything. She knew what he was thinking. "Oh no! No! Dad no! You don't know what you're up against! It's like nothing you've ever seen! It was a miracle that I got out alive."

Stoick pushed her aside as he headed for the exit. Before he left, he grabbed Hiccup by the wing and pulled her back to the arena.

He pushed Hiccup into one of the empty cells of the arena.

"Dad! Please!" Hiccup begged, "I promise you, you can't win this one!"

Stoick began to close the cell doors.

"No!" Hiccup pleaded again. She ran to Stoick and tried to hold the doors open, "For once in your life, will you please just listen to me?"

Stoick violently shoved Hiccup back into the cell, causing the girl to fall onto her back. He spoke for the first time after thirteen minutes of silently locking Hiccup away, "I should've killed you the minute I found out you were part dragon. You've wasted your loyalty on them. You're not a Viking. You're just a demon."

Hiccup froze.

Stoick slammed the cell doors. The echo was deafening in the dark cell. Hiccup could hear Stoick yelling orders, preparing the armada.

"Dad!" Hiccup screamed, banging on the doors with her fists, "Daddy! Stop please! Don't do this! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Hiccup became desperate, she began kicking on the doors as well as slamming her fists on them, screaming, "Let me out! Don't leave me in here! Let me out! Please!"

Hiccup didn't know this. But as Stoick walked out of the arena, he struggled to hide the tears that began running down his cheeks. He was breaking his own heart by locking up his own daughter. Her pleading cries made him feel even worse.

Astrid hid behind some wooden barriers leaning against the wall. He was waiting for them to leave so he could let Hiccup out of the cage.


	14. Why Didn't You?

Hiccup sat miserably in the corner of her cell. Nothing but guilt and sadness was on her mind. She had failed the village. She had failed her friend. She had now caused their death. Everyone was going to die, and it was all her fault.

Hiccup buried her face in her hands as she lay in a fetal position. Out of nowhere, a familiar voice entered her mind. " **I'm sorry, Zendri,** " it was Kullgen. " **Once the humans arrive, I'll have no choice but to kill them. I'm so sorry.** "

" **No you're not.** " Hiccup spat back, " **I know you're happy about this. How do you even know that they're coming?** "

" **I entered your mind. I had to show you what they really thought about you.** "

" **That was you?** "

" **I had no other choice. I needed you to understand what the humans are really like.** "

" **By making me attack my father?** "

" **That man was about to kill you. Zendri, you had these powers since I gave them to you. When you were a baby, you were sick and close to dying. I secretly sent a dragon to put Dragon Nip into your food. You were healed but you also gained the powers from the DNA left by the dragon that healed you.** "

" **You mean...** "

" **I made you the way you are. It was the only way to save you. Because of that, you owe me your life, and your loyalty.**

" **I have to go now. Once I'm done with the humans, I'll come to rescue you.** "

the voice disappeared. It was at that moment that Hiccup realised what kullgen's plan was: He had planned that he would take her to his nest so that he could study her and find out what her personality was like. Once he had figured it out, he would take control of her mind and attack one of the Berkians. This would cause the chief to extract information from her, learning the location of the nest. Then Kullgen could kill the humans and end the war.

Hiccup suddenly heard the clanking of metal outside the doors. She turned to the doors as they opened, revealing Astro.

Without a word, Hiccup ran over to Astro and hugged him. Astro comforted Hiccup as she sobbed, "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault!"

"No, Hiccup. This is nowhere near your fault."

Astro and Hiccup sat down against the wall of the cell.

"Why didn't I just kill that dragon when I found him in the woods?."

Hiccup took deep breaths. When she was calm, she continued. "It would've been better for everyone."

"Yep." replied Astro, "The rest of us would've done it. So why didn't _you?"_

Hiccup didn't answer.

"Why didn't you?" Astro repeated.

"I don't know." answered Hiccup, "I couldn't."

"That's not an answer."

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?"

"Because I want to remember what you say. Right now."

"Oh for the love of-I was a coward. I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"You said 'wouldn't' that time."

"Whatever! I wouldn't! Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking who _wouldn't_ kill a dragon!"

Astro was silent. Hiccup looked away.

"First to ride one though." Astro reminded her. "So?"

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as scared as I was. I looked at him... and I saw myself."

"I bet he's really frightened now. What are you gonna do about it?"

Hiccup shrugged, "Probably something stupid."

"Okay," replied Astro, "but you've already done that."

"Then something crazy."

"That's more like it."

"Awww." exclaimed a sarcastic voice. It was Snotlout, "You're comforting your girlfriend."

"For the last time." said Astro, "It wasn't a date."

Hiccup glared at Astro, "You told him?"

"Actually," corrected Snotlout, "he told all of us."

"'Us'?" Hiccup leapt to her feet and ran out of the cell, remembering that she was being held captive inside. She saw Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs standing outside the cell.

Tuffnut walked up to Hiccup in a threatening manner, "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon."

"Uh..."

"It's me."

Snotlout turned Hiccup so she was facing him, "I! Love this plan."

"I didn't..."

"You're crazy!" exclaimed Ruffnut, completing a human triangle that was surrounding Hiccup, "I like that."

Astro shoved the teenagers away. Hiccup sighed with relief.

"So?" questioned Astro, "What is the plan?"

Hiccup smiled. This was the very group of teenagers that hated her, yet they trusted her with their very lives.


	15. Two Plans Made, One Wiped Out

Stoick and his armada were slowly drifting through the maze-like territory of Hellheim's Gate.

Gobber leaned closer to Stoick and whispered to him, "Stoick. I've been listening to the conversations that have been going on since we left the village, and some people are wondering if there really is a plan at all, and what it might be."

"Find the nest and take it." answered Stoick.

"Ah, yes." nodded Gobber, "Good plan. Send them running. You always have-"

"Shh."

Stoick looked to Toothless, who was chained and muzzled, being held down by metal bars on a wooden platform. The dragon seemed to be making a vibration sound mixed with some sort of purring noise.

Stoick walked to the stern of the ship and took hold of the steering post.

Toothless looked up. He was in the hypnotic trance. He looked in the direction of the nest. Guiding the Berkinas into the trap that awaited them on the beach.

They eventually arrived at the nest. The vibrant noise that Toothless was making was so loud that you'd barely be able to hear yourself speaking.

Toothless was released from the trance. He realized where he was and tried to break free from his chains. Stoick looked up at the mountain. He barely noticed a tail hanging over a ledge.

The chieftain smiled, "We're here."

Stoick leapt off the ship and onto the pebbled beach. As soon as he landed, the loud vibrant purring noise ceased.

Stoick looked up confused. He quickly nodded it off and began to plan a way to get the dragons out.

Meanwhile, back at Berk, Hiccup had unlocked the cage of the Monstrous Nightmare.

She walked backwards with one hand extended towards the dragon's about.

" **Why must you keep trying to trick me?** " the dragon wondered.

" **I'm not trying to trick or harm you.** " explained Hiccup, " **I'm trying to help you. My father has his village headed for your home. He's going to try to kill the dragons there. But your master is going to kill them when they reach the nest. If you help me, we can save them, and I'll make sure that these people never hurt any of you again. I promise.** "

Snotlout cautiously kneeled down and tried to grab a spear head from the floor. Astro slapped his hand, "I wouldn't."

Once Hiccup was close enough, she gently took Snotlout's hand.

Snotlout tried to pull away. But Hiccup wouldn't let him. "Just stay calm. Dragons can sense fear. He's just as scared of you as you are of him."

Hiccup placed Snotlout's hand on the Monstrous Nightmare's about, and the dragon purred softly.

Snotlout began to chuckle.

Hiccup walked to a crate. "Where are you going?" questioned Snotlout. Hiccup reached into the crate and pulled out a rope, "You're gonna need something to help you hold on."

Snotlout tried to laugh sarcastically, "Yeah. Right. There is no way I am riding this thing. You've really lost it this time, Dragon."

"Also," Hiccup added, "please stop calling me that."

"It's not hurting you. Why would I stop?"

"I've been wanting to give you a piece of my mind ever since I met you." Hiccup explained as she drew her claws from her fingers, "And I'm not afraid to do it now."

Snotlout shut up.

"Right." continued Hiccup, "Who's next?"

The beach of the dragons' nest was soon turned into a battleground. Stoick had drawn a diagram of a line of catapults that would be launched at the mountain side. "When we crack this mountain open, all hell is gonna break loose."

He raised his voice along with his hand, "No matter how this ends, this ends today." With that, he gave the signal. The boulders were launched from the catapults. And the mountain side was broken. There was a gaping hole.

Stoick walked up to the new cave and gave to second signal. A large bundle of sticks was lit on fire and launched into the cave. As the light went through the cave, everyone could see hundreds of dragons on the walls.

Stoick let out a war cry and the Vikings began to attack the dragon's. The only things that the reptiles did was flee. They scattered in all directions, flying away from the island.

"Is that it?" questioned Gobber.

There was silence.

Then, Gobber exclaimed with joy, "We've don't it!"

The tribe began cheering. Over the cheering, Stoick barely heard a loud growling sound. He looked to the ship and noticed a very frightened Toothless trying desperately to escape.

"This isn't over!" he yelled, "Form your ranks! Hold together!"

The floors of the cave began to crack and walls began to crumble. A deafening roar emerged from the cave. Stoick finally got a good look at the beast. He turned to the warriors and yelled at them to run for their lives.

Once they were a safe distance, Gobber and Stoick turned and looked back at the dragon.

"Beard of Thor!" exclaimed Gobber, "What is that?"

"Odin help us!" breathed Stoick.

It was at this moment that Stoick realized, Hiccup was right all along. She had tried to warn him of the danger he was leadin the tribe to, but he ignored her. The Night Fury seemed calm as he lead them to the nest. But now, he was trying to escape. Stoick realized that Toothless was mind-controlled when he lead them to the nest. He then knew that Hiccup was mind-controlled when she attacked him. Everything she said was true. And he failed to see that. Now, his entire tribe was going to pay for his mistake.


	16. Saving the Tribe and Toothless

"Get to the ships!" exclaimed one of the warriors. "No!" protested Stoick. But it was too late. Kullgen blew a giant cloud of fire, the size of two ship-lengths, all over every single Berkian ship that was visible on the beach. The few Vikings that were on board the ships jumped off the boat and into the water.

Toothless was ten times as desperate when the flames surrounded him. He pulled on the now-unbearably hot chains so hard that the chains rubbed against his scales. Fortunately, the scales of a Night Fury was almost fireproof. So he wasn't harmed badly by the heat.

Gobber couldn't help but comment on the dragon's intelligence, "Smart, that one."

"I was a fool." confessed Stoick. He turned to Spitelout and ordered, "Lead the men to the far side of the island."

As Spitelout ran off to spread the word, Stoick turned to Gobber, "Go with them."

Gobber shook his head, "I'm gonna stay. Just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."

"I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt." He raised his fist, but Gobber grabbed it and held it tight, "I can double that time."

Stoick smiled. His friend clearly was loyal to the end. He turned to the Red Death, "Here!"

"Oh no." added Gobber, "Here!"

Both Vikings ran up to the Red Death. Stoick grabbed a spear-looking staff and threw it at the Red Death.

The staff struck Kullgen under the eye. " **The poor fool.** " he said to no one. He lowered his head to get a better view of the tiny creature. It was the father that he had caused Hiccup to attack. The small chief jumped up and down yelling, "Come on! Fight me!"

"No!" yelled Gobber, "Me!"

" **Very well,** " mused Kullgen, " **If you wish to be the first two to die here. I'm sure it would be more proper if I accepted the orders of a chief.** " The Red Death drew back his giant head, preparing to burn the two alive. But suddenly, an explosion was caused just behind his neck.

Stoick and Gobber froze. What had happened? As if it were to answer the question, a Zippleback, a Nadder, a Gronckle, and a Monstrous Nightmare flew out from behind the giant beast. It didn't take long for the shocked Vikings to see teenagers riding them. Hiccup and Astro were riding the Nadder, Snotlout rode on the Monstrous Nightmare, Fishlegs was on the Gronckle and the Thorston twins were riding the heads of the Zippleback.

"Look at us!" exclaimed an excited Tuffnut, "We're on dragons! All of us."

Gobber leaned towards Stoick, "Every bit of boar-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were."

Stoick nodded in agreement.

As the teenagers directed the dragons around Kullgen, Hiccup leaned toward the dragon.

Kullen glared evilly when he saw Hiccup, " **You just don't know when to give up! Do you?** "

" **I told you, Kullgen!** " yelled Hiccup, " **Vikings don't go down without a fight!** "

Hiccup looked to Fishlegs, "Okay, Fishlegs. Break it down."

Fishlegs observed the creature and began listing useful facts, "Heavily armoured skull and tail made for bashing and crushing. steer clear of both. Small eyes, large nostrils, relies on hearing and smell!"

"Okay," replied Hiccup, "Lout, Legs, hang in his blind spot. Make some noise, keep him confused. Ruff, Tuff, find out if he has a shot limit! Make him mad!"

Ruffnut smiled, "That's my area of expertise!"

"Since when?" asked Tuffnut, "Everyone knows I'm more irritating!"

"Would you just do what I told you?" exclaimed Hiccup, "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

"Don't worry!" assured Snotlout, "We got it covered!"

The twins flew close to Kullgen so he could hear them as they yelled, "Troll!" "Butt-elf!" "Giant boar!"

Kullgen immediately shot fire at them, missing them by inches. The reason he missed them was because of the endless banging noise. Snotlout and Fishlegs were banging their weapons against their shields as hard as they could.

Fishlegs noticed two more pairs of eyes opening. "This thing doesn't have a blind spot!"

Hiccup scanned the burning ships, quickly finding Toothless.

The Deadly Nadder flew over the ship, letting Hiccup jump down to the black dragon. Hiccup turned to Astro and the Nadder, "Go help the others!"

The Nadder flew away.

Hiccup pulled the muzzle off of Toothless. She grabbed a stick and attempted to pry the chains off of the wooden platform.

Kullgen was completely confused by all the noise that Snotlout and Fishlegs were making.

"It's working!" exclaimed Snotlout. "It's working!" echoed Fishlegs.

Unfortunately, the loud noise was affecting the Monstrous Nightmare and Gronckle as much as affecting Kullgen.

The Monstrous Nightmare was so distracted by the noise that he collided with the Red Death's head, sending Snotlout falling off of his back and onto the Red Death's head.

"I've lost powers on the Gronckle!" exclaimed Fishlegs, "Do something!" he threw his hammer to Snotlout just before the Gronckle fell and crashed in the pebbled beach. "I'm okay!" announced Fishlegs. The Gronckle rolled over, on top of Fishlegs. In a muffled voice, Fishlegs added, "Less okay!"

Kullgen raised his paw to crush the boy. But something kept hitting his eyes. "I can't miss!" yelled Snotlout as he repeatedly slammed the hammer into the giant eyes of the Red Death, "What's wrong buddy? Got something in your eye?" Kullgen missed Fishlegs and the Gronckle.

"Yeah!" yelled Astro to Snotlout, "You're the Viking!"

Snotlout hit Kullgen's eyes one last time before Kullgen jerked his head to the side, sending Snotlout flying over his head. Snotlout grabbed the Dragon's scale to hold on.

Kullgen turned around, his tail hitting the masts of the burning ships. The ships overturned, and Hiccup and Toothless fell into the water.

Toothless was still chained. Hiccup completely ignored the fact that she need to get oxygen, and swam down to Toothless. She tried to pull the chains loose. The result of her refusing to go to the surface for air was falling unconscious. Toothless tried to break free. He saw a large hand grab his friend by the shoulder and pull her up.

" **Hiccu-u-u-u-u-up!** " he screamed through a muffled voice.

Hiccup opened her eyes and saw a large silhouette of a man dive into the water. "Dad?"

Toothless had now accepted the fact that he was going to die. He then noticed the same figure in front of him. It was Stoick. Stoick grabbed the chains and ripped them off of Toothless' neck. Toothles quickly bolted to the surface, taking Stoick with him. He shot out of the water, dropped Stoick and landed next to Hiccup. " **Come on! We gotta help!** "

" **You got it, Bud.** " Hiccup mounted onto Toothless. She noticed Stoick walking up to her in the corner of her eye, but she pretended not to notice. She was afraid that he was even more cross now that she had once again helped a dragon. She also pretended not to hear him as he called to her. Instead, she shouted, "C'mon!' and flew up to join the others.

"She's up!" exclaimed Astro. He flew next to the twins, "Get Snotlout out of there!"

"I'm on it!" replied Ruffnut.

Tuffnut glared at her, "I'm on it first!"

Both fought over who would be the ones to save Snotlout. As they fought, Snotlout jumped off the the Red Death's head, letting the Zippleback.

" **You betrayed me!** " yelled Kullgen. He opened his mouth and growled, " **Those who betray their master must pay!** " he began to suck in air. The air current began to pull the Deadly Nadder and Astro toward the giant throat.

Hiccup and Toothless saw Astro and the Nadder's lives in trouble. Toothless prepared to shoot at the giant dragon.

"Night Fury!" screamed a Viking from below. "Get down!" All the Vikings ducked under their shields as Toothless shot at Kullgen. The shock wave of the fire knocked Astro off of the Nadder's back. Toothless quickly caught Astro. He looked at the boy and both smiled at each other.

Toothless dropped Astro on the ground.

Hiccup looked at Kullgen, " **He has wings! Let's see if he can use them!** " Toothless flew down, quickly. He shot at the Red Death with such force that the giant dragon fell down.

There was a brief silence. Then, Kullgen raised two giant wings and began to fly after Hiccup and Toothless.

" **Well he can fly!** " observed Hiccup. Both flew around sea-stacks, letting Kullgen slam through them. Although they had the advantage in agility, Kullgen was gaining speed.

" **Alright, Toothless.** " said Hiccup, " **Time to disappear!** " she adjusted her foot pedal to position three, and Toothless flew up into the thick clouds.

Kullgen disappeared after them.

The Vikings below looked up at the sky, straining to see anything through the clouds above them.


	17. Hiccup's Sacrifice

Everyone on the beach strained to see anything that moved in the thick clouds above them. Nothing was visible, but they could hear Kullgen growling loudly, possibly searching for Hiccup and Toothless.

Stoick and Astro were the most worried. Their fate rested on Hiccup, whose fate rested on Toothless, who didn't seem large enough to defeat the giant dragon.

" **Come on out Zendri.** " ordered Kullgen, " **I see the doubt in your mind. I know you want more than anything to be accepted. If you would just stop this foolishness, I promise I will give you that acceptance you crave.** "

Right out of the clouds, a blue orb of fire struck the Red Death in the shoulder. Another shot hit his left wing, followed by a blow to the back.

On the ground, everyone could see the flashes of the light from the fire as it repeatedly struck the Red Death. They could even see the outline of the dragon.

" **I've given you more than enough second chances, Zendri!** " the infuriated dragon yelled, " **If you are willing to die with the worthless humans,** ** _you_** **will be the** ** _first_** **to burn!** "

He opened his mouth and let a large cloud of fire erupt from his throat. He tossed and turned in all directions.

Hiccup and Toothless flew away as quickly as they could. Hiccup screamed " **Look out!** " but it was too late. The fire had caught Toothless' artificial tail, and began to burn it. " **Okay!** " exclaimed Hiccup, " **Time's up! Let's see if this works!** "

" **Hiccup?** " questioned Toothless, " **Are you insane? My tail is burning! We'll die!** "

" **Trust me, Toothless! He wants me! Besides, I remember that time the Terror tried to steal your fish. If I'm right, that will help us get rid of Kullgen!** "

Toothless began to dive toward Kullgen.

" **I'm setting the tail so that you can control it on your own. And remember!** " added Hiccup, " **If something goes wrong, I want you to fly away as quickly as possible. Don't try to save me no matter what!** "

Kullgen turned and saw the little girl on the Night Fury. He could hear her taunting voice yelling, " **C'mon! Is that the best you can do?** "

Kullgen snapped his mouth shut, missing the two with great distance.

Toothless began to dive. Kullgen followed.

Hiccup looked up at Kullgen. Her plan was going well... so far. She noticed that the tail was nearly gone. She turned to Toothless and soothed, " **We're good, Bud! Just a little bit longer!** " She looked back over her shoulder. She could see the evil pleasure in Kullgen's eyes. " **Hold Toothless.** " Kullgen prepared to burn them. " **Hiccup, I can't!** " replied Toothless, " **I'm out of fire! I've barely gone beyond my shot limit!** "

Hiccup thought for a moment, then shouted, " **Turn around!** "

Toothless spun around so he was facing the Red Death. Hiccup quickly shot a blue fire orb right into the dragon's mouth, just like Toothless did with the wild Terror. The gas that was inside Kullgen's mouth lit up, burning the inside of his mouth.

Toothless spun back the other way and spread his wings. The dragon let the Red Death fall passed him.

Kullgen saw the ground. He tried to stopped his descend by spreading his wings. But because of all the blows he took from Toothless, his wings had holes in them that became larger from the wind ripping through them. He couldn't stop in time. The Red Death crashed into the beach, the fire inside his mouth caused his body to explode.

Hiccup let Toothless control what was left of his artificial tail. Toothless quickly flew through and around any obstacles as they tried with everything they had to fly out of the dragon's way. Hiccup looked for the artificial tail. It was gone. She looked back in front of them and saw the giant tail right in their path. They were about to collide with it.

She quickly jumped off of Toothless' back and used her wings to thrust her toward the Night Fury. She pushed the dragon away as hard as she could. She had just pushed Toothless out of the way as she hit the giant tail. Her head hit the tail so hard that it knocked her out.

Toothless saw Hiccup falling toward the sea of lava that grew higher beneath them. " **Hiccu-u-u-u-u-up!** " Toothless used his wings to pull him closer to her. Both Toothless and Hiccup disappeared in the explosion.

There was a long silence as everyone waited for the fire to disperse.

Once the fire was finally gone, Stoick began to run frantically through the smoke, searching for his daughter, "Hiccup! Hiccup! Where are you?" The chieftain saw a black reptilian body lying on the ground nearby. It was the Night Fury. "Hiccup." Stoick ran to the Night Fury.

Toothless had his wings wrapped around him. Stoick looked around for any sign of Hiccup. There was none. "Oh, Hiccup." he sighed, kneeling next to the dragon, "I did this."

The other Vikings gathered around Stoick. Astro pushed his way through the crowd. When he saw Stoick and Toothless, he began to cry.

Stoick felt the worst out of all of them. He had completely neglected his daughter. He treated her like a monster. He had taken away her best and only friend, and locked her up. Now he would never get the chance to say sorry. In spite of that, he said it anyway, "I'm so sorry, Hiccup."

Toothless heard Stoick. He slowly opened his wings, revealing a slightly bloody girl. The girl had black wings extended from her back.

"Hiccup!" Stoick held the girl in his arms. He removed his helmet and listened for a heartbeat. After a few brief seconds, he began to cry, "She's alive. You brought her back alive!"

The tribe began cheering. Astro began laughing, although tears were running down his cheeks.

Stoick gently placed his hand on Toothless' head, "Thank you, for saving my daughter."

"Well," said Gobber, walking up to them, "You know... most of her."


	18. Hiccup Finally Accepted

Hiccup lay in her bed, still unconscious. But she was slowly becoming more aware of her surroundings. A few days ago, Astro had said "hello" to Hiccup, and she mumbled as if trying to respond.

Toothless walked up to Hiccup. He was getting eager.

He purred loudly, " **Alright, Hiccup! Nap time's over! You've been sleeping for two weeks now! Wake up.** "

Hiccup opened her eyes.

" **Well, it's about time sleepyhead!** " purred Toothless sarcastically, " **What took you so long? How did you manage to sleep that long? And through the explosion! What is your strategy?** "

Hiccup chuckled, " **I wasn't sleeping, Toothless. I must have been knocked out.** "

Toothless started nudging Hiccup with his nose, " **Alright. Out of bed! Time to wake up.** "

" **Toothless, I am-** "

Before Hiccup could finish, Toothless placed his paw on Hiccup's stomach, pressing hard. Hiccup jolted up to a sitting position exclaiming, "Ow! What the..." She looked around, "I'm in my house... uh.. _you're_ in my house."

Toothless began jumping around excitedly, " **She's up! Yes! Finally!** "

" **Toothless, stop! You're making a mess!** " Hiccup tried to crawl out of her bed, but she accidentally slipped and fell off the bed. As she landed, her elbow was jabbed into one of her wings. "Ow!"

She looked at her wing. A small section of her wing seemed to have been cut off. " **What happened to my wing?** "

" **Your wing was badly burnt in the explosion. It was so bad that the village healer had to cut off part of the wing before it could get infected.** "

Hiccup looked back at her wing. She could see the scars that were still very visible on it. The girl sighed as she stood up and began walking to the door. She opened the door to a Monstrous Nightmare. She quickly closed the door thinking, _Not again!_

" **Toothless, stay here.** "

Hiccup opened the door again. She saw the same dragon, with Snotlout riding on its back.

Hiccup walked out of her house and looked around with her mouth open. Dragons _and_ humans were on Berk. Both were happily going about their day. Dragons were sitting on the tower basins that was once used for torches, but was now holding fish.

"I knew it." said Hiccup, "I'm dead."

Stoick walked up to her, "No. But you gave it your best shot. What do you think?"

"Look!" exclaimed Gobber, "It's Hiccup!" Vikings gathered around the girl, cheering as if she had returned from a victory from war. Hiccup was confused. Were they really cheering for her? After all she had done, were they actually happy to see her? How could this have been happening?

Stoick gestured to Hiccup, "Turns out, all we needed was a little more of... this."

"You just gestured to all of me."

"Well," commented Gobber, "most of you. Once that wing of yours is healed, Gothi's gonna sow it up. Hopefully you'll be able to fly again."

"Wait!" interrupted Hiccup, "Does this mean I can use my powers now?"

"Look, Hiccup," said Stoick, "I know that I've been really... harsh... on you. And I'm... really... really sorry for that. You deserve to have those abilities. If you want to, you can use them."

"Really?" asked Hiccup, overcome with joy.

"Maybe you won't be able to fly the way you might have before, but..."

"I think I'll handle it."

The crowd chuckled.

Astro walked up and punched her, "That's for scaring me."

"What?" exclaimed Hiccup, "Is it always gonna be this way-"

Astro pulled Hiccup closer and kissed her.

Hiccup froze, "I could get used to it."

Stoick handed Hiccup a red artificial tail, wrapped in a leather saddle, "Welcome home."

Hiccup smiled, "Thank you."

"Night Fury!" screamed a voice, "Get down!"

 _Oh dear gods!_ thought Hiccup, _Please don't tell me this is what I think it is._

Toothless came running through the crowd. He climbed onto someone's shoulder, knocking him down.

Hiccup and Astro laughed.

Hiccup got everything ready. She mounted up on Toothless' back and adjusted the foot pedal.

" **Hey, Hiccup,** " said Toothless, " **remember, once your wing is healed, we still gotta teach you how to fly.** "

" **How long 'til my wing is healed?** "

" **Less than four weeks.** "

" **Then why are you telling me now.** "

" **I don't want you to forget it while you're flying with your boyfriend agai-** "

" **Enough already!** "

"Hiccup?" asked Astro, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing!" exclaimed Hiccup.

" **Sure.** " nodded Toothless.

Astro laughed, he could tell by the way Hiccup answered so quickly that she was talking about him. "Let's go."

Astro and Hiccup flew up into the sky.

Hiccup spread her arms like wings and closed her eyes. After all the years of pretending to be full human, she was finally allowed to learn how to be a dragon.


	19. A Note From RadiantFire

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this fanfiction. It really means a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed reading this story. I'm going to make this a HTBAD version of the HTTYD series. I will be making the other movies, short films, episodes, etc of the httyd series. Once again, thank you for reading this fanfiction. Have a good day.


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